Woonhuis, Driekoningenplein 6

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.

La Licorne (the unicorn), DWELLING HOUSE, in its present form constructed in Neo-Gothic forms. The dwelling house contains a core situated on the street side that for a large part still dates from the sixteenth or seventeenth century; possibly the origin of the building goes back even further to the first castle of Bokhoven destroyed in 1498 that was situated at this location and of which foundation remains have been found in the cellar. The function of the old section is unclear; there is mention of a storage place for gunpowder. This building is largely incorporated into the present building, which owes to its predecessor the remarkable 3/8 closing on the street side. Slightly to the west of the present property is the second castle of Bokhoven situated, largely destroyed in 1794. Of this castle partly the walls and the castle moat still remain. The castle owners after the destruction began to use the old house as a residence. Probably it was then decided to expand the existing construction with a large room on the rear side and with a stair tower situated on the west side in sixteenth-century style, also the wooden rafter roof was then renewed and the stepped gable set. It is likely that at that time also the windows provided with Tudor arches and ornamentation were applied. In the garden various building fragments of natural stone, Gothic window or door surrounds have been found. It is unclear where these building fragments originate from. In 1981 a small-scale housing extension with garage was realized on the east side. The house is markedly situated in an ample green setting with free view onto the rear-lying polders. The green setting, as well as the extensions on the east side, fall outside the protection granted by the national authorities.

Description.

Partially detached dwelling house of one storey on rectangular ground plan with a 3/8 closing and an octagonal stair tower with spire. The rear façade (south side) is stepped. The façades are constructed of brick and are plastered on all sides, partly in running bond. The property is provided with a gabled roof with three-sided hipped section on the front and is covered with slates. The roof covering is partly renewed. The property is partly cellared on the north side. The stair tower is provided with stretcher courses running around it in yellow brick and has narrow, cross-shaped openings for light admission. The masonry is laid in cross bond. The cornices of both the house and the stair tower are richly ornamented with among other things small corbels and metopes. Further under the gutter an encircling mouse-tooth frieze with decorative masonry underneath is applied. The stepped façade has three façade openings arched with a Tudor arch of which the frames and windows are renewed. The remarkable 3/8 closing on the street side has two windows and an opening double glazed door. These are all arched with a Tudor arch and have a moulded surround. The windows have four-part frames with glazing bars. In the roof hips around 1980 square windows with tilt windows are applied. On the front of the house against the side façade and the stair tower is situated a low block-shaped extension under a flat roof. This extension dates from the building period of the dwelling house and has a rectangular window on the west side. On the east side are situated three building volumes applied in 1981 under gabled roofs that fall outside the protection granted by the national authorities. Internally the layout has been altered several times. Most old elements are still present in the room on the street side. This still has a ceiling of collar beams with applied smaller joists. The keystones are provided with a bead moulding. In the partition wall between the front and the rear room a door opening is applied with a wooden surround and spanned with a Tudor arch. The wooden doors are clamped. In the nineteenth century under the collar beams an undersill beam on a centrally placed wooden post is applied. The wooden rafter roof was during the modernization of the house at the beginning of the nineteenth century constructed with reuse of some elements of the oak predecessor. On some parts the scored carpenters' marks are still visible. The connections consist partly of wooden pegged joints and are partly nailed. The front room is almost entirely cellared and has a flat ceiling. The cellar level comes slightly above the ground floor and provides for a small level difference in the living room. In the nineteenth-century rear room a polychrome painted representation of the family coat of arms of the family Levis de Mirepoix is applied on, what was probably, the breast of a removed chimney. The northern wall of this room still largely consists of masonry of the first building. This masonry is largely left exposed. In it the contours of a closed window are visible.

Valuation.

The house is of general interest. It has cultural-historical value as a particular expression of the typological development of the dwelling house drawing back on historical forms. For this formal language it appears to have been chosen because of the memory of the former castle of Bokhoven. The location of the house has archaeological importance because of the almost certainly still present remains of the first castle of Bokhoven. The property has architectural-historical importance because of the unusual combination of architectural forms and because of the still present intact building elements from the period before 1800. Further it is of importance because of the quality of the applied neo-gothic style elements. The dwelling house is of importance because of the typological rarity of such a combined building type.