Landhuis Zonnewende

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.

The COUNTRY HOUSE Zonnewende was built in 1922 as specification 148 according to plans by K.P.C. de Bazel for manufacturer Adolf van den Bergh, the founder of the textile factory AaBee in Tilburg. The plot near the Galgenven had been owned by the family, originally from Dordrecht, since 1811. The building is executed in a style that is a mixture of Traditionalism and Rationalism. Following a fire in 1937, the house, which was originally provided with a thatched roof, was rebuilt according to the existing drawings in the traditional manner. The building was extended around 1990 with a new wing in the style of the existing house. This wing, which connects to the main building at the location of the former kitchen, falls outside the protected area. A greenhouse complex located on the left side of the house, connected to it by a passage, had already been demolished earlier. The building is situated in a grandly laid out park in English landscape style with a drive and, at the rear, lawns, which on the west side transitions into agricultural land by means of a pond and groups of older beeches, oaks and lindens.

Description.

Two-storey country house under a composite hipped roof covered with roof tiles and provided with a roof lantern. The house has a symmetrical structure with a north-south oriented main block under a high hipped roof and projecting corner risalits on the eastern front facade and the western rear facade with lower hipped roofs. The northern risalit on the rear facade has a seven-sided termination, which recurs in the risalit on the southern side facade. To the right of the front facade, the northern corner risalit is extended wider to form a two-storey service and kitchen wing, which since the extension transitions almost seamlessly into the extensive northern side wing executed in the same manner.

The house, constructed in Flemish bond in imitation handmade brick, has a granite base with rustic working and similar cordon line beneath the windows of the upper storey. The hipped roof has a wide overhang with gutter and roof dormers under small hipped roofs with arched windows. The roof lantern is octagonal and has a melon dome with weathervane as crowning. On the roof corners high chimneys in fluted brick. The windows in the main block and the risalits consist partly of narrow and tall cloister windows filled with mirror glass and stained glass in the fanlights. In the kitchen wing and in the corner risalit at the rear, these windows are partly coupled to form two- and three-light windows. In the entrance risalit and in the middle of the rear facade, they are combined with French windows. The windows consist of wooden sash windows with wooden shutters on the inside, which are placed in shutter boxes above the frames, and brass windows on the outside, the lower lights of which pivot upwards. The front facade has a central risalit with a high gable roof in the roof slope featuring diamond-shaped decorative brick motifs in thin roof tiles. In front of the risalit an originally open entrance portal with double brick columns and round arches carrying a groin vault. During renovation, this portal was provided with glazed storm doors, behind which the double opening front door was retained. To the left and right, the space between the portal and corner risalits is filled with block-shaped waiting rooms with two-part windows and slightly lower intermediate sections with white wooden cladding. The kitchen wing has lost its function and is provided on the front side with a new three-part bay window with hipped roof. On the rear side, the central section is accentuated by a terrace placed between the risalits, above which a balcony. In the middle here a three-part bay window with broad central window and access doors, all executed in brass and granite frames and bands. On two pairs of coupled brick columns rest lintels executed in gravel concrete, which carry the balustrade of the balcony. Across the entire width a terrace paved with flagstones and overlooking the park with granite stairs and retaining walls.

Internally, the partially basement house is provided with a concrete floor on the ground floor and timber floor structures on the upper storeys. The whole has largely remained intact. Many rooms have parquet floors, wainscoting, panel doors and plaster ceilings, designed by the architect. In the basement a humidification and cooling installation dating from 1937 that still functions and is driven by an electric motor from Meichinger and Cie. Vestibule provided with hexagonal marble floor tiles and wainscoting with symmetrically placed hexagonal panels of white-veined marble with black marble executed plinths. Hexagonal perforated openings for heating. Left and right toilet and cloakroom with marble wainscoting and stained glass windows. Original washbasin with taps. Central hall with three-part arrangement, finely carved double doors, parquet floor, ceiling with oak main and secondary beams, fireplace and wrought-iron dial plate, connected to the weathervane on the roof lantern. Wide bay window, overlooking the terrace by means of a window that can be lowered into the balustrade. From this hall and the passage in front of it, the other rooms and the staircase can be reached. On the left at the front the former children's room with polygonal bay window, natural stone fireplace and double sliding doors, which are respectively provided with inlaid wooden panels and stained glass, and give access to the spacious living room with fireplace and benches. On the right at the front the former now converted kitchen. Adjacent to the central hall the elongated polygonally enclosed dining room and adjoining the gentlemen's room with bay window. Both rooms have wainscoting in various types of wood and are provided with built-in cupboards with glass doors and fireplaces in natural stone. The kitchen adjoining the dining room is no longer present. The large rooms on the upper storey were originally intended as bedroom, children's and guest rooms. They are accessible via a staircase in the right wing, are reduced in size by means of partition walls, but retained the parquet floors, plaster ceilings and wainscoting executed in dark types of wood of radiators, window frames, plinths and doors. Above the entrance the former lady's room with door with three-part stained glass fanlight, wainscoting and three-part tracered wooden cupboard niche and bookcase. In the left front room a niche with original washbasin. The rooms are accessible through an H-shaped corridor system. On the attic some rooms with wooden interior shutters.

Valuation.

The country house is of general interest. It has cultural-historical value as an expression of socio-economic and landscape development, as a representative of a country house built by a wealthy manufacturer in a rural village in the vicinity of the industrial city of Tilburg. The building has architectural-historical value because of its place in the late work of architect K.P.C. de Bazel and is also important because of the special use of materials and the special coherence between exterior and interior. It has ensemble values because of the quality of the building and the historical-spatial relationship with the surrounding green provisions, which notably must be the extensive park. It has been preserved intact.