Oud Amelisweerd

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

MAIN BUILDING (Oud-Amelisweerd). At Oud Amelisweerd there must have been at least since 1537 a moated fortified house. In that year the house and property were recognized as a knight's estate. The moat required for a knight's estate exists in slightly modified form to this day. The present Oud Amelisweerd was built around 1770 within the existing moat on the foundations of another, simpler house, of which part of the masonry was incorporated into the present building. The red brick building on a U-shaped ground plan consists of two storeys and an attic storey under an all-round smothered Dutch-tile hipped roof with four chimney stacks on the ridge ends. Both the facade on the river side and the facade facing the park have a representative yet sober appearance. Both facades contain seven bays and are provided with a central entrance arrangement. On the park side a round drive leads to the front door, which is located in a three-bay wide, recessed central section. The entrance is accessible via a hard stone step of two treads with a curved cast-iron railing on either side and consists of a single entrance door with Empire panes and a semicircular fanlight, set in a rusticated pilaster frame. On either side of the door and in the projecting side sections, there are Empire windows on the ground floor and upper storey. On the roof three dormers with multi-pane windows and cheeks. The facade on the river side has the same windows, provided with venetian blinds. The entrance arrangement on this side consists of a central entrance door with Empire panes and a simple fanlight, the door is accessible via a hard stone step of three treads. On either side of the door likewise venetian blinds. On the roof three dormers with multi-pane windows and cheeks.

The ground plan and layout have scarcely changed since the time of construction (circa 1770). On the river side (south) of the house a series of four rooms in enfilade. The rooms on the ground floor all still have well-preserved historical finishes with wainscotting, panelled doors, inside shutters, stuccoed or painted ceilings, wall coverings and fireplace mantels and recesses. The wall coverings are of different origin and subject matter, they presumably date from the second half of the 18th century. There are two rooms with Chinese wallpapers. One room is provided with wallpaper featuring floral motifs (branches with leaves and blossoms) and birds. On the wallpaper of the other room, against the background of a mountainous landscape with several villages, various representations are depicted which in particular have Chinese hunting as their subject. Furthermore a room with wall covering on which landscape representations are displayed. This room has allegorical grisailles with putti above the doors and a painted ceiling from the 19th century. Finally a small room where on the wall coverings landscape still lifes are depicted of trees, flowers and birds (chicken, turkey, peacock, etc.), in this room likewise an allegorical grisaille with putti above the door. The wall coverings of the two latter-mentioned rooms were restored in the 1990s. The Chinese wall coverings received a consolidating treatment. In the utility and circulation spaces, alongside the marble floor and plinths and the inside shutters (where applicable) various historical details from the 18th and 19th centuries. In the kitchen amongst other things a cooking place with oven, sink with cupboards, white-glazed tile facing (partly authentic). In the scullery an 18th-century pump. In the dying-room a small chamber an 18th-century fitting with work surface, cupboards and shelves. The staircase is situated in the western part of the house, here a staircase with carved balusters and railing in Louis XVI style (initial balusters Louis XV). On the upper storey amongst other things the same enfilade of rooms as below, containing various fireplace mantels from the time of construction. In the cellar cross vaults and mortared troughs for storage of amongst other things salt. In the outer wall of the scullery an oven.

Valuation

The MAIN BUILDING (Oud Amelisweerd) is of general importance:

- because of its age;

- because of the development history from knight's estate to late 18th-century country house;

- as a representative and well-preserved example of an aristocratic country house from circa 1770, of which both interior and exterior, as well as the ground plan and layout, have scarcely changed since the time of construction;

- because of its characteristic location within the park layout;

- because of the functional-spatial relationship with the other components of the country estate;

- as a character-defining architectural element with particular cultural-historical value on the bank of the Kromme Rijn.