Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
diamond demos, not as good as Gassan's, but convenient if you're
near the Rijksmuseum (see page 49).
s Willet-Holthuysen Museum (a.k.a. Herengracht Canal
Mansion) —This 1687 townhouse is a must for devotees of
Hummel-topped sugar bowls and
Louis XVI-style wainscoting. For
others, it's a pleasant look inside a
typical (rich) home with much of
the original furniture and decor.
Forget the history and just browse
through a dozen rooms of beauti-
ful and saccharine objects from the
19th century.
Upon entering (through the
ser vants' door under the grand
entry), see photos of the own-
ers during the house's heyday in
the 1860s. The 15-minute video explains how the wealthy heiress
Louise Holthuysen and the art-collecting bon vivant Abraham
Willet got married and became joined at the hyphen, then set out
to make their home the social hub of Amsterdam.
Picture the couple's servants in the kitchen—before electricity
and running water—turning meat on the spit at the fireplace or
filtering rainwater. Upstairs, where the Willet-Holthuysens enter-
tained, wall paintings introduce you to Abraham's artistic tastes,
showing scenes of happy French peasants and nobles frolicking in
the countryside. Several rooms are done in the Louis XVI style,
featuring chairs with straight, tapering legs (not the heavy, curv-
ing, animal-claw feet of earlier styles); blue, yellow, and purple-
themed rooms; wainscoting (“wallpaper” covering only the lower
part of walls); and mythological paintings on the ceiling.
The impressive gilded ballroom contains a painting show-
ing the room in its prime—and how little it's changed. Imagine
Abraham, Louise, and 22 guests retiring to the Dining Room, din-
ing off the 275-piece Meissen porcelain set; chatting with friends
in the Blue Room by the canal; or sipping tea in the Garden Room,
gazing out at symmetrically curved hedges and classical statues.
Up another flight is the bedroom, with a canopy bed and matching
oak washstand and makeup table (and a chamber pot tucked under
the bed).
When the widow Louise died in 1895, she bequeathed the
house to the city, along with its collection of candelabras, snuff
boxes, and puppy paintings (€5, Mon-Fri 10:00-17:00, Sat-Sun
11:00-17:00; take tram #4, #9, or #14 to Rembrandtplein—it's a
2-min walk southeast to Herengracht 605; tel. 020/523-1870,
www.willetholthuysen.nl). The museum lacks audioguides, but you
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