Historic jewel
An exceptionally deep and wide historic townhouse from 1649, hidden in the heart of The Hague's Old Centre. With a width of 6.5 meters, a depth of 34 meters, and a living area of approximately 400 m², this home offers a rare combination of history, space, and flexibility. A front house with a potential independent rear house, a sheltered city garden, and a roof terrace overlooking The Hague's rooftops make this a home that awaits rediscovery time and again.
Spacious and historic house in the city center
Historic townhouse (1649) with front and rear house, garden, and roof terrace in the Old Centre of The Hague. Located on the Stille Veerkade, right in the historic centre of The Hague, lies this remarkable townhouse from 1649. With a width of 6.5 meters and a depth of approximately 34 meters, the house is exceptionally spacious for a historic property. The home comprises approximately 400 m² of living space and consists of a front house and an independent yet connected rear house.
Over the course of its nearly four centuries of history, the building has served many functions: a residence, a shop, and an artist's studio. Today, it is a spacious home that lends itself perfectly to various living arrangements, such as multi-generational living, a studio, a practice space, or a home office. Houses of this size and flexibility rarely come onto the market in the historic center of The Hague.
Many historical elements have been preserved inside. For instance, there are beamed ceilings reminiscent of the interiors in paintings by Jan Steen, wide wooden floorboards, and various atmospheric details. The ceilings in the front house are impressively high (up to 3.45 meters on the ground floor and approximately 3 meters on the upper floors), which gives the rooms a special sense of spaciousness.
The current facade dates from 1923 and is part of the protected cityscape of the Old Centre. The history of the house is closely linked to the city: the property was once owned by a Hague iron smith who created the monument on Plein 1813. The philosopher Spinoza and the artist Jan Steen were once neighbors; the rear entrance of the house opens onto the charming Spinozasteeg, a secluded alleyway that leads onto the lively Dunne Bierkade and has a Notting Hill-like atmosphere.
Due to the exceptional depth of the house, the garden, and the various outdoor spaces, surprising sightlines and a variety of spaces are created that give the house a unique character.
History to get inspired
A rare opportunity to live in a historic townhouse in The Hague with nearly four centuries of history, right in the heart of the lively Old Town.
The house on Stille Veerkade has stood for 377 years and has been adapted several times over the years to suit the changing city. Like many houses in the Old Town, it has served various purposes and has evolved alongside the neighbourhood around it.
It began its existence in 1649 as a stylish merchant’s house on a canal where boats could moor. The name Stille Veerkade was primarily practical at the time: a quiet spot where small vessels could be moored.
Over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries, the city changed. Wealthy merchant families gradually moved to the newer neighbourhoods towards the dunes, whilst the canals became increasingly unattractive places to live due to the odours. The area developed into a lively Jewish quarter with trade, small businesses and workshops.
Around 1903, the property was owned by the family of Jan van Coeverden, director of the Prins van Oranje iron foundry. Among other things, the company produced metal bridges, such as the bridge to the Mauritskade swimming pool and the steel bridge over the Hooikade, as well as the monument on Plein 1813. The foundry stood right next to Hollands Spoor station and was sketched several times by Vincent van Gogh in 1882.
In 1903, the house still had its original, elegant classical façade, featuring a grand entrance door on the right-hand side, two large windows on the ground floor and three large windows on each of the upper floors. In front of the central window on the first floor was a beautifully decorated balcony.
Behind a later layer of stucco, a fragment of the original wall decoration from the living room has been preserved. The wall was once painted high-gloss black with fine lines and blossom motifs.
In 1910, the canal was filled in, after which the Stille Veerkade developed into a busy shopping street. In the 1920s, the building acquired its current façade, modern for its time, designed by a well-known architect from The Hague at the time. At the same time, the ground floor was converted into retail space. During this period, a second front door and a shop window were added, and the staircase was moved to the centre of the front section. The front section was then converted into a double upper floor, with the living room and kitchen on the top floor.
Inside the house, various traces of earlier construction phases are visible. The original beamed ceiling on the ground floor was once concealed behind an ornamental plaster ceiling when the space was used as a shop, but was later uncovered. This type of beamed ceiling is characteristic of 17th-century houses in The Hague and also features in paintings by Jan Steen, who lived and worked in the same block.
According to The Hague’s Monuments Service, a brick mantelpiece in the house is one of the oldest features of the building. This suggests that the current conservatory may once have served as a kitchen.
The rear section of the house has served a functional purpose for centuries. It has successively served as a warehouse, a workshop, a production site for an interior design business, and a studio. The large door in the rear room was intended for small carriages and deliveries. It was not until the 1990s that the rear section was first used as living space; the ground floor has only been inhabited since 2016.
The top floor of the front house still has wide wooden floorboards that were probably sawn almost four centuries ago in a sawmill in Zaandam.
Historical references to the property can be found on Delpher.nl, where advertisements show that both domestic staff and warehouse workers were employed here. Some advertisements even mention a preference for staff of a particular religious background, Roman Catholic, which provides an interesting insight into the social relations of the time. Delpher.nl also reveals that the property was purchased in 1875 by a certain F. Vosveld for 8,600 florins. The house had already been put up for sale in 1861 and was described as “a sturdy and well-built HOUSE, YARD and GARDEN, situated at Stille Veerkade no. 34… The property comprises three ground-floor rooms, two of which are en-suite, wallpapered and mostly fitted with heating, as well as a linen loft with a servants’ room, a peat loft, a linen store, a kitchen and other amenities. The plot has access via a gate onto the Dunne Bierkade.
“During a renovation in 2016, a small hidden room was discovered with an access hatch beneath a radiator and its own lighting. This room may have served as a hiding place during the war years. The room later had to be removed to make way for the current staircase to the roof (blue room).
Around 2010, the house was owned by The Hague-based actress Trins Snijders and her son, artist and actor Jasper de Moor. The former shop space on the ground floor was then used for small-scale art exhibitions, lectures and debate evenings. The rear section served as a studio. During that period, the shop front was converted into its current form by the renowned Hague-based architectural firm KOW.
In 2016, the house underwent a thorough renovation under the direction of Jan Knikker, a former partner at the internationally renowned architectural firm MVRDV, known for projects including the Markthal in Rotterdam.
The property comprises three ground-floor rooms, two of which are en-suite, wallpapered and mostly fitted with heating, as well as a linen loft with a servants’ room, a peat loft, a linen store, a kitchen and other amenities. The plot has access via a gate onto the Dunne Bierkade.
During this renovation, the current pixel-like staircase leading to the roof terrace was added. The staircase is designed in the characteristic pixel style that the firm sometimes uses, a design method that has also been applied to the tops of the residential towers on Grotiusplaats in The Hague, which are visible from the roof terrace. The staircase has been designed to be multifunctional: it incorporates wardrobes, a small desk, a concealed printer compartment and even a space for a litter tray, as well as various cleverly integrated storage spaces and secret compartments.