News Edam-Volendam, Landsmeer, Purmerend and Waterland

Last time we talked about the dilapidated state of the house in Doolhof number 20. The family of Jan Butter and Jannig Karregat lived here with five children: Gerrit, Piet, Kees, Jaap and Gaar. The chalet has not been lived in for several years and has not been maintained. As a result, the structural condition continues to deteriorate. The wooden side wall is already crumbling here and there, the paint on the door jamb and on the window frames is already rotting and the weeds around the house are rampant.

Photo: The house on the Doolhof number 20 in better times. Piet Buijs sent this photo from Christchurch in New Zealand. In the 1980s, he enjoyed living there for ten years with former top gymnast Carla Braan. It is always beautiful, beautifully painted. Here is another nice corner.

I hadn’t even received the Nivo myself that Wednesday when the phone already rang: a retired house painter said that every time he walked past the house, his hands started itch. “I would brush windows and doors,” he said. From Christchurch in New Zealand, I received an email from Piet Buijs, who lived in the house for ten years in the 1980s, with well-known former gymnast Carla Braan. He thought it was a ‘moral disgrace’ as the house is now standing and sent a photo of what it looked like in its day. With door, windows and shutters still nicely painted. And then I heard via-via the reaction of a former resident, who said that when he walked past “it brought tears to his eyes”.

read here more on the NIVO website.