DETAILS OF THE PAST.
FIND THEM IN HÚNS 16.
A cupboard, a stone... you can walk right past it. But for the residents of Húns 16 and their family members they have a lot of meaning. The Friesland holiday home is therefore full of stories. So take a walk through our storybook:
HATCH HOOK
The first floor of the old workers' house was actually just a large attic. A storage area and a place to dry clothes.
The attic was accessible with a steep ladder and could be closed with a hatch. This hatch could then be secured with a large hook. You can still see that hook dangling next to the stairs.
Unfortunately, the hatch had to be removed during the first renovation of 2020. We have thought for a long time about a new destination, but in the end we have to say goodbye to the hatch.
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ATTIC LADDER
Fortunately, some of the steep ladder to the attic has been preserved. The ladder also had to be removed during the 2020 renovation. The attic was transformed into a neat first floor with two bedrooms and a bathroom. A steep staircase would then be too dangerous, especially for small children. The new stairs are still a bit steep, but not nearly as steep as the old ladder.
The plan at first was to renovate the old ladder in its entirety. But during the renovation we saw that woodworm had seriously affected the ladder. It was a miracle that we had never fallen through. We kept the healthiest half of the ladder and it now stands next to the couch in the living room.
DRYING CUPBOARD
There was a drying cupboard in the old attic of our holiday home in Friesland. Two meters high and about 40 centimeters deep. This cupboard was probably used to dry clothes in the winter. The cupboard also had to go for the major renovation in 2020.
Our contractor could tell us that the cupboard was as old as the house itself. So we wanted to try to save the cupboard and give it a nice new place. We took the cupboard apart plank by plank and nail by nail. The cupboard has been waiting for its new destination for more than a year; a nice decor piece in the kitchen/diner.
The cupboard was also seriously affected by woodworm. Moreover, it was too colossal to place it one-on-one in the kitchen-diner. So it is now a lot less deep and the bottom one and a half meters has disappeared. But he's still there! A nice souvenir of the old attic in the house.
MONASTIC BRICKS
In 2021, the barn was transformed into a kitchen. We are still not sure whether it was a sheep stable or a cow stable. Photo's from Hùns show many sheep walking on the kaats field. And the shed didn't seem big enough for a cowshed to us.
However, archives have shown that one of the residents of the house - Tiete Ymes de Boer - was involved in the founding of The Cooperative Dairy Farm "Hoptille" in Hijlaard on January 2, 1899. So that would suggest that cows were kept in the shed after all.
The concrete floor from the stable had to make way for floor insulation and underfloor heating. During the demolition work, old 'yellows' and even a number of Monastery bricks were found under the concrete; Medieval bricks.
Unfortunately, the demolition could not be stopped, but during the work we tried to save as many yellows and monastic bricks as possible. And we then used it to renovate the alley.
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FLAG
Believe it or not, Húns has its own coat of arms and its own flag. Even most of the villagers don't even know this. To celebrate the completion of the first renovation, our son Mathijs gave us a flag of the village. His design-critical eye could not resist improving the original design a little. When the family comes together for a party or a birthday, this flag is always raised.
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Curious why roof tiles are depicted on the Húns flag?
COFFEE GRINDER AND WEIGHING IRON
A touch of Flanders in Friesland. Pascal's roots lie in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. After the death of his grandfather René and his grandmother Anna, he collected some mementos. Grandma's coffee grinder now hangs comfortably next to the weighing iron that grandpa often used when he went fishing.
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Vakantiehuisje Friesland
Vakantiehuisje Friesland
Vakantiehuisje Friesland
Vakantiehuisje Friesland
RESTORATION EXPOSES HISTORY
The walls began to house more and more plants, while cracks left behind attracted more and more insects. In short, it was high time to restore the facades. Old joints were renewed, damaged stones were replaced and 180 years of dirt was washed away.
This exposed the history and made old window openings, eaves and places where the stove blew soot through the walls visible again.
GREAT-GRANDMOTHER'S CLOGS
Susanne 's roots are in Friesland. Her parents bought the house in the 1970s as a summer home. To be close to the place of her ancestors again during the Friesland holiday. Susanne's grandmother Ytje Beeksma was born in Mantgum and her grandfather in Akkrum. Ytje's mother - Susanne's great-grandmother - still wore these clogs in her village.
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ATTIC FLOOR
When the house was bought in the 1970s by Ruud and Chris Kamstra - Susanne's parents - Ruud wanted to renovate the attic. He leveled the crooked floor and installed a beautiful and sturdy plank floor. The large attic became a cozy place to sleep together.
During the 2020 renovation, Ruud's floor had to disappear and make way for more modern and sturdier material. As a reminder - but also to reuse as much building material as possible - you can still find the planks of this floor in some places. They were used to create the new attic. So the ceiling you stare at in the evening was a floor on which children's feet and cats' paws ran for about 50 years.
In the left box bed you can also see a number of planks. They are located on the bottom of the box bed and they have also been used to cover up the drainage from the bathroom on the first floor.
ROOF LADDERS
In the old barn - or stable - we found two old ladders. Severely affected by woodworm, so we could no longer use them as a play attribute ;-) But after a thorough treatment and a nice color, they are now two nice decor pieces in the holiday home. One in the kitchen and one in a bedroom.
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SKYLIGHT
Now you can enjoy a beautiful view of the meadows and the handball field from the first floor. That was different until 2020.... There were only two small skylights in the roof. They were so high up that it was impossible to see through them.
It was such a wonderful revelation when we could look over the pasture with horses for the first time. One of the old skylights was still good enough to keep. And it now stands as a piece of decor in our front garden.
DRAWING BY MARTIN
Susanne 's eldest brother made a cute children's drawing of the house in the early 1970s - when the house had just been purchased by his parents. It now hangs on display in the children's paradise when they stay in our holiday home in Friesland; in the box bed.
