Woonhuis, Harlingerstraatweg 9 A

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Introduction

VILLA, designed in 1927 by the architectural practice Gros and Heldoorn in Interbellum architecture on the Harlingerstraatweg, the old exit road that was initially hesitantly built upon at the end of the nineteenth century, but from the nineteen-twenties onwards increasingly developed with villas and mansions.

The house was built in 1927 in the garden of the villa at number 11, which had been built more than a generation earlier for a member of the Wassenaar family who owned large farms between Leeuwarden and Jelsum: the likewise protected farms Vijverzathe and Haskerzathe under Jellum, both built around 1890, and the unnamed one at Mr. P.J. Troelstraweg 193 above Leeuwarden. The new house Harlingerstraatweg 9a was built for widow Tryntje Wassenaar-Hilarius, who went to live there with a son. In the rear facade next to the French doors is the foundation stone to be found: 'The First Stone laid by Joh. Wassenaar 21 March 1927'. The subsequent occupants have respected the villa in its original form and furnishings.

The oeuvre of architects J.B. Gros and G.A. Heldoorn, who collaborated for a number of years around 1930 and produced some remarkable results in both residential building and for shops and other commercial buildings, has suffered greatly from alterations and demolition. This villa has been handled with extraordinary care and can serve as a characteristic example of what this pair of architects was capable of.

Description

EXTERIOR: Blocky house with strong asymmetrical detailing. Two storeys high and furnished with a tall hipped roof, on an almost square floor plan with balcony-like extensions on all sides. The brickwork is laid with heavily mottled to vitrified deep red brick. The brickwork of the side room, which projects slightly at the rear, is a shade darker, a result of selecting more vitrified brick. All laid in Flemish bond with deep mortar joints. On either side of the entrance and the balcony are flower boxes of light mottled brownish-red brick, without recessed joints. Many refinements in the brickwork, such as header courses on the parapets and above the windows, but especially the two-and-a-half stone high fan around the enclosed entrance section and the corner treated as a heavy pilaster on the north-west side with a projecting course every three layers. The facade has gained expression also through the projecting and recessed window frames. The tall hipped roof with modest two-light roof lanterns at front and sides is covered with blue glazed Dutch pantiles. On the east side a tall chimney has been built up. The roof has a substantial overhang and is fitted with zinc gutters. In the front facade on the west side a trapezium-shaped balcony of two storeys projects, below provided with fanlights with leaded glass. The entrance section, slightly offset eastward from the centre, with stone steps is enclosed and contains a door provided with a light subdivided in horizontal moulding. A slightly curved disc accentuates the decorative asymmetry. On the transition from the ordinary brickwork to the fan around the door two projecting blocks of sandstone. Above the door a boat-shaped outdoor lamp in Art Deco forms, hanging from four rods from a beam projecting from beneath the cornice; the decorative possibilities of the construction have been fully exploited. On the eastern corner of the upper storey two window panes of the light wall of the stairwell, which runs through the eastern facade with four window panes, of which the rear ones also have lower lights and are provided with a flower box on consoles. All those upper windows are provided with leaded glass with always a decorative strip with red and yellow glass on the right side. The eastern side facade is otherwise provided on the ground floor with small wardrobe and toilet windows and a cross window for the kitchen. At the rear the slightly projecting scullery, which is accentuated with wall pilasters, a projecting small beam and overhanging gutter. High in those side facades the fanlights of the bathroom. The western side facade contains at the front below and above simple vertical windows with leaded glass fanlights; above just past the centre a double window in this form and far at the back a rectangular balcony extension with a narrow window with leaded glass fanlight at the front and a band of three fanlights on the side. In the rear facade the salon has French doors with side and fanlights, the latter again with leaded glass. The projecting side room, which forms a balcony for the upper storey, has French doors with leaded glass fanlights and small, high-placed lights in the side facades. On the upper storey a wide window with side and fanlights; at the balcony French doors with sidelights. Below at the house a connected pergola with bench seat and tiled terrace, a flower box in the middle and on the other side a flat roof as a covered connection to the garage provided with a tent roof.

INTERIOR: The interiors are still in original condition. The bathroom has only been modernised. On the ground floor rooms en suite: sliding doors with small glazing bars and cupboards on either side. In the rooms lists on the walls at the height of the upper door frames, so that on those sturdy edges the collection of plates and dishes could be displayed. All doors – also elsewhere in the dwelling – have lights mounted in frames with leaded glass; some with frosted glass. They are veneered and provided at the bottom with square blocks. Virtually all doors possess the original bakelite handles. In the front room a taut marble fireplace placed at an angle; furthermore throughout the whole house central heating. At the rear salon a timber-lined balcony with bench seat and cupboards; light created by a sidelight and leaded glass fanlights in pink and purple. Kitchen with original furnishings: granite counter with cupboards and with kitchen cabinet with closed doors below and glass doors above. Behind the vestibule on the east side the (stair) hall with wardrobe and toilet next to the entrance. Spacious and abundantly lit staircase with large leaded glass window sections and worked railings. Above a spacious landing hall leading to four rooms and the (modernised) bathroom. Very large attic not converted into small rooms.

VALUATION

The villa is of general historical, architectural-historical and architectural importance

- because of the historical connection with the other building commissions of the prosperous farming family Wassenaar;

- because of the prominent place the building occupies in the oeuvre of architects Gros and Heldoorn;

- because of the carefully executed Interbellum architecture with both externally and internally surprising decorative elements in Expressionist style and Art Deco;

- because of the exceptionally rare degree of integrity of the exterior and especially of the interior.