Westerhaven 20 - Medemblik

Living in style in the house where Napoleon dined? 
Mooring your boat and walking straight into your home? 
Watching a bleak autumn storm from the comfort of your own library? It is possible, at Westerhaven 20, in Medemblik, in North Holland.

On the most beautiful harbor of Medemblik lies this former Water Board House; a unique and particularly charming National Monument that lends itself perfectly to various representative purposes. From art gallery to official residence, from boutique hotel to meeting facility, or simply as a mighty FAMILY HOUSE (619m2) with as many as 13 rooms on 2/3 floors, a beautiful walled garden, a marina in front of the door (own winter storage) and various functional and tasteful outbuildings.
The Waterschapshuis is a National Monument and was built in 1799 when the Waterschap had to vacate the property across the harbor due to the construction of a Naval Institute.
Since 1990, the current owner has restored this unique house to its former glory over several decades, with various original features emerging during the restoration, such as wooden doors, marbled walls and even a complete servants’ room..........

In brief:

Space distribution Watershed House:
Number of rooms: 13 rooms distributed over 2 to 3 residential floors.
Including: 4 bedrooms, 1 toilet room on the first floor and 1 bathroom with toilet, bathtub and shower on the second floor.
Other: 2 large attics and a large basement area consisting of 7 smaller interconnected rooms.

Approximate areas:
Living area: approx. 450 m², , Contents: approx. 3150 m³, Basement/underfloor approx. 200 sqm, External storage space: approx. 200 sqm, Orangery approx. 150 sqm.Plot: 969 sqm.

Garden:
Dimensions backyard total: approx. 425 sqm, approx. 25 m deep and approx. 17 m wide.A deep garden, starting on the north from the house and continuing to the south on the other side of the house. All day sun all around. Accessible via a lockable back.

Outbuildings:
- 
On the left behind the house the FORMER HORSE STABLE, a large simple building consisting of a garage, a large attic, a barn and a SMALL SUMMER HOUSE.
The garage can also be used as winter storage for a boat with a direct connection to the water.
- Behind the house on the right a real ORANGERY.

Neighborhood
Centrally located on one of the most beautiful marinas in the old town of Medemblik near the IJsselmeer with a fantastic view of the harbor and all facilities such as stores within walking distance.

Geographical location:
Medemblik is rural and located in the West Friesland region of North Holland, convenient to both Amsterdam and the Afsluitdijk.  Medemblik is also part of the so-called “historical triangle Hoorn-Medemblik-Enkhuizen.

Tourist attractions:
Museum steam streetcar, steam museum, bakery museum, castle Radboud and Regatta Center Medemblik. Since 2011, Medemblik also has its own beach.A historic building with a unique history where even Napoleon has dined and his brother Louis regularly stayed.Other attractive features regarding the location: The location is quiet, green and watery. At night it is dead quiet and the area has good air quality. There is also excellent medical care nearby; the Dijklander Hospital in Hoorn.

More information about the house:

Ground floor:
What first strikes you about Westerhaven 20 is that the stately front facade of the Waterschapshuis is sloped. It is built “on bulkhead,” that is; sloping, to protect the framework and walls from rainwater. The house has a beautiful bluestone staircase leading to the front door. Through a vestibule consisting of high panels with windows of glass, you reach the imposing entrance hall with a floor of antique marble tiles and a ceiling of nut and child beams. The Waterschapshuis consists of a front and a back house. The entrance hall provides access to both the front house and the back house. On either side of the hall are two beautiful bright rooms with high ceilings, the blue room and the parlor. To the left, one enters the blue room. This was once the dikewarden’s room. The blue room is so named because of the oak wall in shades of blue with a bedstead and the painted coat of arms of the Water Board, The Four Noorderkoggen. The room has an 18th-century fireplace with iron floorboard, marble pilasters and a cast-iron antique hearth plate depicting Lady Justice. The floor consists of antique “turtle tiles” with underfloor heating.

On the right side of the hall is a large parlor, modernized about 1900 with stretched sailcloth against the ceiling with papier-mâché ornaments and finely worked vent grilles. The wall opposite the two windows consists of cabinets fitted with doors with panes. Hidden behind one of these doors, there is also a complete 1930s walk-in Lips safe. Another door provides access to a spacious kitchen used by the servants at the time. The parlor has a beautiful 19th century marble fireplace. The walls are partially decorated with 18th century richly ornamented oak panels from floor to ceiling. This room is ideally suited to receive guests or to serve as a representative meeting room.

From the entrance hall you follow a long corridor that leads to the back house. On the left you will find the garden room, a lovely sheltered room overlooking the garden.This room has an authentic wooden cabinetry and a fireplace with 19th century bar.Also through the blue room, this room can be reached through a small corridor with wooden paneling and antique small tiles. The consoles under the beams of the garden room are decorated with angel heads carved from wood. To the right of the back house, you enter a cozy small room also overlooking the garden, a china cabinet and wooden walls with hidden pantry cabinets. This room is adjacent to the kitchen and makes an excellent dining room.  If you walk through, you will enter the kitchen which also opens onto the parlor. The kitchen preserves several original features from the time when Napoleon’s personal cook prepared meals for him and his guests. For example, the huge fireplace with vented shutters and cast iron floorboard and a hardstone sink.

First floor
Following the original wooden wide “spiral staircase” that runs centrally from basement to attic, you will encounter the servant’s quarters along the way. A windowless room with a box bed where the servant could retire after a long day. Beyond this room you reach the second floor with, again, a division between the front and rear of the house. At the rear, in the middle is a room that can be used for various purposes, with a bedroom on the left and a dressing room/”walk-in closet” and a bathroom on the right. On the other side of the stairs, in the front house, there are another large and a small bedroom on the left and in the middle and on the right through a landing, the library.

The library is an attractive, spacious room, located above the parlor and with the same floor area. Again, original features have been preserved including a so-called “smuiger. This is a fully tiled 18th century fireplace. The fireplace has a hearth plate with Lady Fortuna and 18th century manga tiles with representations of landscapes. On the other side, this room has a beautiful 18th century wooden wall with a showpiece cabinet with gilded ornaments and drawers where wine was kept. The library has a beautiful view of the harbor and was and is a great place to retire after dinner, with a good book or a glass of cognac or to get closer to business. We might refer to such a room in this day and age as a “mancave. This space is also excellent and representative as a study or office.

Second floor    
Through the same landing that leads to the library, one follows the stairs to the second floor, the attic floor of the front house. There are two attics, one at the back house and one at the front house. The attic at the back house is accessed through a separate stairway entrance in the back house. The two attics are adjacent to each other and run the full length of the house with a screed of insulating material and an intermediate gutter (kilgutter) accessed from the attic by a large tumbled window. These attics are not currently used as living space, but with the necessary modifications, an additional floor or even a complete apartment could be realized here with, again, views of the harbor.

Basement
The spiral staircase leads down to the basement. The basement contains seven dry, standing cellars, most of them equipped with heating and a former service kitchen with an antique wall, used as a pantry with access to the garden and “utility room” with connection for washing and drying equipment. The basements also offer numerous possibilities such as chore room, storage space or as a studio.

Outside
Through the monumental 18th century entrance gate, one has access from the street to the garden and the former horse stable.Outside are located on the left behind the house, the former horse stable, which is used as a garage and on the right behind the house, the former carriage shed, which since 2009 has been used as an orangery. Besides for your car, the horse stable is also suitable as winter storage for a boat that can be launched right in front of the door. In the horse stable annex garage you can still find the authentic mangers that remind you of the time when the “ingelanden” stabled their horses here. Then, behind the stable, there is a small summer house with a separate basic toilet and shower room and a large barn with a sink, which can be converted into an outdoor kitchen if desired.

Above the stable is a former hayloft along its entire length. This space is not in use but could be transformed into an attractive bedroom/guest room or a full apartment with at the front above the garage, French doors overlooking the harbor. The orangery now has its original function for plants and as a summer retreat. It doesn’t get colder than 15 degrees in there. You could also use this space for workshops or a yoga class, for example.

Garden
The intimate garden, best described as a “secret garden,” is sheltered, quiet and sunny and consists of several “garden rooms”.It is a mature garden with a monumental chestnut tree as a showpiece. In front of the house, is a square in the shape of a star, with yellow pebbles and a circle of old rubble stones. At the back is a gazebo used as a tea house.

Glossary:

Smuiger:     
Term from the Zaanse building tradition, an entirely tiled fireplace
Ingeland:     
Someone who owns property within a water board and has the right to vote
Faux marbre:     
Painting technique that reproduces the suggestion of marble
Waalstenen:     
Stones, fired in small brickworks along the Waal River