Well, the seedlings are chugging-along and lots of allotment work has been done. Things are sort of at a still period at the moment as I am waiting to begin the seeding of this year's annuals. So, while there isn't much gardening stuff to take fotos of at the moment, I made a little tour into the countryside and took some pics of some typical West-Frisian homes. These places are being replaced by more modern structures slowly but surely--the charm of this old style is disappearing. None of these examples have all the elements of the style, but all do have many of the architectural elements that make them "West-Frisian". I hope that you will enjoy seeing these.
I certainly did enjoy them Sjoerd! It seems to be happening all over - old homes are being replaced by more modern structures. Personally, I love the charm of the oldies...
What a pity that these beautiful, traditional houses won't be around for future generations to enjoy.
ohhh those are beautiful. I just love homes that reflect the countries native heritage. Charming is to loose of a word a think, but i can't think of a better one. Sjoerd i had read at one time that in the cities there, homes were built very tall and narrow. Reason was the tax or something was according to how wide a home was. So everyone built their homes straight up. is that true? Now i'm talking about hundred or more years ago. but the structures are still there and used.
Lovely homes! I like the pyramid shaped roof of that brick house. Those wood trimmings look like lacework. Very nice.
So true, Sjoerd . . . it is a shame, but older structures are being torn down to make way for the new. That is why I also try to chronicle as much as I can with my camera. I sure enjoyed the tour that you provided. Thank You.
I love the charm of these old homes too, Netty. Biita, there are indeed many tall and narrow houses in a number of the cities here. I had bever heard of it being due to taxes, but it is certainaly possible. I thought that they were narrow and tall because the cost of land was so high, so it was cheaper to build upwards instead if sideways, so to speak. Some buildings are homes and others were storage buildings. Many of the narrow and tall buildings in Amsterdam, for instance, are situated along the canals and the cargos that were brought back to Holland by the East India Company's agents for distribution and sale in Europe were stored in them. Most of these buildings have large hooks up at the top of the building so that the goods could be hoisted up to different floors and worked in through a large window. Many of the older buildings in Holland are built with a foreward lean and one of the suspected reasons for this is so that the items being hoisted up would not bounce off the façades. The buildings are more than one hundred years old, many date from the 16 and 1700's...and they are still in use as offices or dwellings. Almost all of them are designated as national monuments and thus protected against being demolished. Generally, the inside can be altered but not the outside. Yes Droopy, those are nice lace-like trim and it is usually painted a light green colour, which we call, "West-Frisian green". There are even many new homes that have this. Dooley, I expect that the flowers will come out as the summer progresses, unless the folk that live there are very old and unable to manage the upkeep. I am glad that you enjoyed seeing these nice homes, I hope that they will be preserved for a long time to come. There is an outdoor museum in a city not far from here where many old homes and buildings have been removed from their original places and brought to the museum , then reconstructed exactly so that people can see how things were. There is also different types of crafts to be seen from the old days like fish and eel smoking, blacksmith shop, sail making and impregnatins, wood working, woioden shoe making. There are volunteers who dress-up in period clothing and do the things so that visitors can see how it was done in the old days. It's a charming place where nostalgia reins supreme.
