Nijenhuis

English translation

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Description

Component 1

Description

MAIN BUILDING (Nijenhuis). The core of the current main building, a rectangular brick building five bays wide, consisting of a basement, two storeys and an attic storey, was completed around 1662 according to a design by Philips Vingboons. The original front façade had a projecting central section three bays wide crowned by a pediment (drawing Rademaker first quarter 18th century). The entrance was located in the middle. On either side of the building block were two tower-like building sections arranged on a rectangular ground plan of modest dimensions, presumably for accommodating the 'conveniences'. Although broadly in accordance with this design the current front façade dates from the beginning of the 19th century. The renovated façade was provided with empire sash windows; on either side of the central section and at the ends of the façade a vertical articulation was created with white-painted sandstone blocks. The current steps also date from this time. A memorial stone on either side of the oculus in the pediment recalls the very first house: "Van 't ouden huis dat is vergaen, siet gij hier noch den datum staen. An(n)o 1491". The central double entrance door with glazing bars is set in a simple frame and is preceded by a broadly flaring sandstone flight of steps. A simple iron balustrade of two posts and a rail with curved ends accompanies the steps. The landing is demarcated by a wrought iron balustrade whose railwork has a geometric pattern. This balustrade dates from the second half of the 20th century. Below the landing is the service entrance to the basement. In the façades sash windows in empire style with shutters on either side. In the front and rear façades virtually all windows are provided with green-painted shutters, as are also the southern side façade. The floor beams are marked on the exterior by regularly placed ornamental wall anchors. On basement level some single and double multi-light windows opening outwards. The surrounding hipped roof dates from the end of the 19th century, the original roof was higher. It is covered with slates and on the front and rear sides provided with simple, decorative roof dormers, consisting of a multi-light window crowned by a pediment. The rear façade has six window bays which on the level of the principal floor are provided with double opening doors and on the storey above with sash windows. The rectangular balcony with robust sandstone balustrade onto which the opening doors emerge dates from 1888-1889. It was designed by architect Moll in conjunction with the garden designs of Poortman.

The two polygonal brick towers on either side of the house were built around 1858 on the instruction of the then owner Gerrit Schimmelpenninck. The guttering lines of the towers originally had the same height as the guttering of the house. Since an heightening of the towers at the end of the 19th century on the instruction of the son and heir of Gerrit, Lodewijk Schimmelpenninck, they lie slightly higher. Beneath the gutter line a neo-gothic mortared ornamental band has been applied. The design of the slate-covered hipped roof of the towers follows the polygonal outline of the building mass. On the rear side a tall mortared chimney; on either side decorative roof dormers. In the façade surfaces various multi-light windows whose design corresponds with the windows of the house.

The two brick wings on the rear side date from 1914/1915. They were built by the firm Aberson from Steenwijk on the instruction of the then owner Lodewijk Hieronymus Schimmelpenninck, the design is by Mannes Meierink from Zwolle. The wings have the same height as the towers on the front side. Above the gutter on corbels a slate-covered hipped roof with on the front and side a roof dormer and on the rear side/side a chimney. Below the roof line an abstract mortared ornamental band has been applied. In the end façade of the northern wing one window bay, in the end façade of the southern wing two. This asymmetrical distribution is the result of the interior finishing of the associated rooms, where panelling with respectively painted wallpapers and tapestries had to be fitted. The side façades have two window bays with sash windows (principal floor and storey) and opening windows (basement). The design of the windows in the wings corresponds with the design of the windows of the house.

Until the beginning of the 20th century slender round turrets stood on either side of the house, approximately where in the 18th century a rectangular tower-like extension had been. These turrets were presumably demolished in connection with the construction of the wings on the rear side (1914/15). Nowadays the towers and the wings are connected by a somewhat recessed façade wall, which on the north and south sides is arranged differently. In the southern side façade on the level of the basement a service entrance flanked by multi-light windows is located, on the principal floor a loggia with decorative sandstone balustrade and on the storey above a window. In the northern side façade the wall between tower and façade at the height of the storey was closed off by a decorative sandstone balustrade, on basement level two windows are located, on the principal floor a large multi-light window. The interior of the Nijenhuis still contains elements from the building period, but in particular many components from the 18th and 19th centuries, such as panelling, stucco ceilings, chimney pieces and overdoor panels and in the basement a kitchen with accessories. In particular Lodewijk Schimmelpenninck modernised and adapted the house in his time (second half 19th century, beginning 20th century), whereby amongst other things in the hall and in one of the reception rooms a new large sandstone chimney piece in Renaissance style was installed, provided with the coat of arms of the Schimmelpenninck family. A few years later a high oak panelling matching the chimney piece was installed in the hall. The rooms in the wings, which came into being in the same period, were finished and furnished in 18th-century style, whereby in the northern wing a tapestry room was created with tapestries from circa 1700 and in the southern wing 18th-century painted wallpapers were installed in matching panelling. The Flemish tapestries are so-called 'verdures', which presumably came from the former Princenhof in Groningen. The depictions illustrate the five senses. On the painted wallpapers in the southern wing landscape scenes are depicted. In 1942 part of the furnishings was auctioned on the instruction of the then owner Rutger Jan Eugen Schimmelpenninck, including paintings, bronze sculptures and furniture. Since the beginning of the 20th century nothing significant has changed in the interior.

Valuation

The MAIN BUILDING (Nijenhuis) is of general importance:

- because of its age;

- because of its architectural design, in which phases from the original Vingboons house from 1661, phases from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries can be distinguished;

- because of the construction and development history, which is representative of many 17th- and 18th-century noble residences;

- because of the virtually original ground plan and layout;

- because of the well-preserved interior finishes from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries;

- because of its characteristic location within the original 17th-century park layout;

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