Kasteel, buitenplaats, Utrechtseweg 82

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

Description component 1.

MAIN BUILDING (De Brink).

Exterior

GENERAL: The whitewashed country house dates from 1856 and is built in a neo-classical style characteristic of the buildings along the Utrecht pleasure-garden promenade. Surrounding the slightly elevated house is a landscape park, presumably from the time of construction. The front of the house is oriented towards the brink and faces the country estate Schaerweijde on the opposite side of the brink. The house has a rectangular floor plan with a substantial projecting central section on the east side, which houses the staircase. Both floor plan and layout have been preserved almost intact. The building comprises a basement, ground floor (bel-étage), first floor and attic under a hipped roof with valley gutter. The ground level is higher at the front than at the rear; the basement is visible only at the rear. The facades are horizontally articulated by means of a fairly substantial hardstone plinth, painted white on the rear and side facades, a profiled moulding at the level of the junction between ground floor and first floor, and a substantial cornice with richly carved ornamental corbels and attic windows in the frieze. The cornice is crowned by a running parapet with balustrade. The vertical articulation consists of rusticated (ground floor) and panelled (first floor) pilasters. Front and rear facades are symmetrical, five window bays wide. Between the two outer bays there is also a symmetry axis.

REAR FACADE: The entrance section projects slightly outward and is located in the rear facade, with window arrangements on either side. The double glazed front door is located in a whitewashed portico with niches, which can be closed with a wrought-iron railing. The access to the portico is framed by a coupled square pillar and column, crowned by a cornice with a gently curved architrave. A hardstone stoop of seven steps precedes the portico. On the first floor, a double door with double semicircular fanlight in a Serliana frame gives access to a narrow balcony with simple geometric balustrade above the portico. On either side of the entrance section, at ground floor level, are two Empire windows (division 2x2 plus 2x1) with hardstone sill. The projecting plinth, which continues as a basement in the pilasters, creates the impression that the windows lie in a sunken field. The windows on either side of the balcony are a taller variant (division also 2x2 plus 2x1, but taller panes) of the Empire windows on the ground floor; the sill here is moreover supported by small corbels. On either side of the stoop at basement level are two windows with slightly arched tops on each side.

FRONT FACADE: The front facade consists of 5 bays, the middle three are coupled, the outer bays are set slightly back in the plane of the facade. On the corners double rusticated (ground floor) and panelled (first floor) pilasters. The five double glazed doors with fanlight (division 2x2 plus 2x1) on the ground floor open onto a narrow hardstone terrace. On the first floor in the outer bays are tall Empire windows (division 2x2 plus 2x1) with hardstone sill. The three middle bays have doors as on the ground floor, fitted with decorative natural stone framing with cornice supported by small corbels. The doors give access to a substantial balcony on ornamental corbels that runs across the three middle bays. The balcony has a balustrade of panelled sections alternated with balusters.

SIDE FACADES: The side facades have an irregular window distribution. The west facade has at the front a veranda, now enclosed with glass, with decorative balustrade. The interrupted facade plane is supported in a decorative manner by strongly flattened relieving arches on panelled pillars. Above the veranda, on the first floor, are tall, narrow round-arched windows. The remaining windows in the west facade are, partly blind, Empire windows as in the front and rear facades; at basement level are windows as in the rear facade. In the east facade are windows as in the front and rear facades, a number of smaller windows and at basement level, alongside the ordinary windows, a small round window and a cellar entrance.

Interior

Except for a few minor alterations, the original floor plan and layout of the building have been preserved. The portico at the rear gives access to a vestibule, which leads to a passage along the longitudinal axis of the house. The vestibule and passage are furnished with white marble tiling and a stucco ceiling with cove and border mouldings and rectangular panelled fields with central circular motif. On both long sides, as well as on the short west side of the passage, rooms open off via profiled double panelled doors. Opposite the vestibule is the great hall with ornamental fireplace mantelpiece between panelled pilasters and stucco ceiling, consisting of a geometric diamond pattern within rectangular running border mouldings, with organic decoration at the intersection points of the moulding and in the centre a large, organically filled, star-shaped rosette. In the outer bands are panelled fields with central circular motif. The hall connects with both rooms located on the west side, forming an apartment: the rooms are in direct connection with each other via tall, profiled double doors in profiled framing. The aforementioned western rooms are also furnished with fireplaces with ornamental mantels and simple stucco ceilings with border mouldings. The fireplace in the northwestern room is of grey marble in simple lining, decorated with carved flower motifs in white marble; the fireplace in the southwestern room is executed in neo-Renaissance style, with two substantial Doric sandstone columns supporting a Doric entablature; the wall behind the fireplace is tiled with old Dutch purple-and-white tiles. At the east end of the passage is the staircase with a flight of stairs and elegant ornamental balustrade with refined balusters. On the first floor there is a repetition of the layout on the ground floor. There are more rooms than below, possibly due to a division of rooms. Part of the passage wall appears to have been removed. Some rooms are furnished with simple fireplace mantels. The passage and rooms have cove mouldings. In the attic, whilst preserving the original beam structure, part of the roof covering (on either side of the valley gutter) has been replaced with glass. This alteration is of recent date and of secondary importance for the protection of the building. Via a small staircase to a double opening window in a roof dormer gives access to the roof. In the chimney on both sides are three iron doors inscribed with which room the door connects to (e.g. "mijnheer's room"). The basement has a central passage, onto which (mostly) panelled doors open on all sides; the ceiling consists of a fairly flat cross-ribbed vault; the floor is furnished with simple, dark grey tiles. In the kitchen the same tiles on the floor, white-tiled walls, a barrel-vaulted ceiling and two double lightly arched opening glazed casement windows. Furthermore, many original elements including a built-in sink with copper taps and a hand pump, a built-in dumbwaiter (opening into the passage), a wall of cupboards, a countertop and fireplace. Throughout the house much original woodwork and particularly well-preserved original hinges and locks.

Valuation

MAIN BUILDING (De Brink) is of general importance:

- Because of its architectural design;

- Because of the almost original floor plan and layout;

- Because of the well-preserved 19th-century interior;

- As a representative example of a 19th-century country house in neo-classical style;

- Because of its characteristic location within the landscape park;

- Because of the functional and spatial relationship with the other components of the country estate.