When you enter the house to the front door you see the little stairs in the end. That also is the border between the front house and the back house. Behind the doors in the back is the main reception room. The doors in front on the left are there just for the effect. They have no function otherwise.
Looking through the door you see the living room from the family who lives here . This style is Louis XVI (1782).
Standing on the little marble stairs from the first picture looking in the courtyard you are seeing this wall decoration original from 1728. The 2 doors are secret toilets from that period. A brick layered sewer gave direct access to the "Herengracht" canal in front and until the sixties of the 20th century the canal houses watered directly on the canals in front with their sewage.
In the garden you have a nice view of the garden house that nearly every canal house has for placing apart their piece of ground from the land on the other side and to impress visitors. Also a lot of house owners were rich jews who used their garden house for the feast of Tabernacles ( Sukkot ).
Leaving again through the servant entrance in the cellar but still marble and tiles. Yes they made a lot of money in amsterdam in those times.
Spectacular home and grounds but away beyond my means.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenVery interesting but I could not get out of my mind the thought of the canals being an open sewage line. Just something you wouldn't think of nor could imagine.
BeantwoordenVerwijderen"A brick layered sewer gave direct access to the "Herengracht" canal" - you should read The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson. Even without knowledge of germ theory, hard to believe people thought it was OK to mix sewage and drinking water...
BeantwoordenVerwijderenReally enjoyed these house pictures. Thank you for showing and explaining. Look forward to see some others in the future.
BeantwoordenVerwijderen