Mackintosh’s Hill House Becomes an International Iconic House!

SPECIAL – Czech Classics

Record Number of New Iconic Houses - Part 1

At Plečnik House: To Decide Where the Shadow Falls

Record Number of New Iconic Houses - Part 2

A Story of Burnt Books and Broken Bricks

Iconic Encounters: London

Remembering Irving J. Gill

Iconic Houses in the Media

Interview in Leading Catalan newspaper ARA

Bauhaus Villa in Berlin For Sale

Historical Exhibition, Marie-Laure de Noailles, Painter, Conversation

Our Badge of Honour

Istanbul’s Modernist Ataköy Housing Estate is At Risk

Early Furniture Designs by Le Corbusier on Permanent Display in Maison Blanche

Photo Report City Icons Amsterdam

Healing Through Architecture

Reopening An Iconic Modernist Landmark

City Icons Kick Off with Talk by Linda Vlassenrood

MORE MIES - Pure Architecture in Haus Lange Haus Esters

Through a Bauhaus Lens: Edith Tudor-Hart and Isokon

Modernism Week Lecture: 12 Years of Iconic Houses

Aluminaire House Grand Opening

Exhibition Icons of the Czech Avant-Garde

An Elementalist and Mediterranean Architecture

Icon for Sale - Loos Villa: Haus Horner

SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams Europe - Sleep in an Iconic House!

SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams North America - Sleep in an Iconic House!

SPECIAL – Dutch Delights!

SPECIAL - Vacances en France!

SPECIAL – German Greats!

SPECIAL - Casas Icónicas en España!

SPECIAL – Northern (High)Lights!

SPECIAL – Iconic Artist Residencies

SPECIAL – Iconic Collective Housing

SPECIAL – Women & Iconic Houses

Public Screenings and Private Streaming of Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House

Support the Frankfurt Declaration (on Housing)

Winy Wants a World Wonder

Welcome Atelier Volten!

Sleep in a Modernist Gem – Huis Billiet in Bruges

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - 100 Years Van Zessen House

Exclusive Tour and Film Screening Package

The Last House Designed by Adolf Loos Will Be Built in Prague

Icons of the Czech Avantgarde

Icon for Sale - Casa Legorreta

Rietveld Day: 200 Enthusiasts Explored 3 Utrecht Icons

Hurray! 10 Years Iconic Houses

7th International Iconic Houses Conference A Huge Success

Meet Conference Co-Chair Iveta Černá

Meet Conference Co-Chair Maria Szadkowska

Eighteen Iconic Houses Under One Roof

17 June - 'Pioneers-film' Screening Amersfoort

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Eesteren House Museum

Welcome Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Zentrum in Vienna!

Welcome Vila Volman! Jewel of Czech Functionalism

Movie Night: Adolf Loos- Revolutionary Among Architects

'Inside Iconic Houses' Case Study House #26 Webcast in Webshop

Inside Iconic Houses at Taut’s Home in Berlin

Rediscovering Forgotten Loos Interiors in Pilsen

'Inside Iconic Houses' - Online Tour Program

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - The Diagoon House

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Rietveld Schröder House

Rietveld Houses Owners Association

Corberó Space: New Life for Hidden Jewel

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Pierre Cuypers' House and Workshops

Reeuwijk Celebrates Completion of Restoration Rietveld Homes!

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Doesburg Rinsema House

Welcome Rietveld's Van Daalen House!

Architect Harry Gessner Passed Away at 97

Watch Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House Now On Demand

Icon Saved: Dorchester Drive House

Welcome Umbrella House!

Iconic Houses in the Netherlands – Berlage’s Masterpiece

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Het Schip

Inside Iconic Houses - Tour of Maison Cazenave

Inside Iconic Houses Tours Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami

Casa Masó Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary

Inside Iconic Houses tours Roland Reisley's Usonian Frank Lloyd Wright House

Rietveld’s Experimental Housing in Reeuwijk Saved

Serralves Villa after restoration

Portraits of the Architect - Interview with Gennaro Postiglione

Test Labs for New Ideas - Interview with Natascha Drabbe

Inside Iconic Houses - Isokon Building

Inside Iconic Houses - 16 December: Sunnylands with Janice Lyle

BCN-BXL Coderch-De Koninck - Beyond Time

New Chairman Architect Nanne de Ru on The Perfect Platform

Health and Home - Interview with Beatriz Colomina

A Life Less Ordinary – Interview with Valentijn Carbo

Invisible Women - Interview with Alice T. Friedman

Winy Maas on the Green Dip

Anita Blom on Experimental Housing of the 1970s

Women’s Worlds - Interview with Natalie Dubois

The Culture of Living - Interview with Robert von der Nahmer

Hetty Berens: A Fresh Take on Modernism

Niek Smit on Supporting Modern Heritage

Alice Roegholt on Amsterdam’s Working-Class Palaces

July is Iconic Houses Month

Hans van Heeswijk on The Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House

Wessel de Jonge on Dutch Icons at Risk

Save Maison Zilveli - Sign the Petition!

How a Building Tells a Story - Recorded Event

Toolkit for Owners of a Modern House

13 Aalto Sites Nominated for UNESCO World Heritage

Villa Beer At Risk - Sign the Petition!

Business Cards of Stone, Timber and Concrete in the Brussels Region 1830-1970

Exhibiting & Visiting Modernist Monuments

Fostering Well-Researched Responsible Design

ICONS AT RISK

Enjoy a virtual visit to the California House and a Q&A with architect Peter Gluck

Exhibition 'Modernism and Refuge'

A Hidden Gem of Postmodernism

New Centre for Historic Houses of India

An Online Chronicle of the Douglas House

Villa Henny, geometric style icon in The Netherlands

A Mendini temple in Amsterdam

IH-lectures USA & Canada Feb 2020 on Melnikov House

Sponsors and Friends

An Afternoon with the Glucks

Chandler McCoy on Making Modern Houses Sustainable

Catherine Croft: Getting Away from the Demolition Mentality in the UK

Patrick Weber on Discovering an Unknown Icon

Fiona Fisher on Iconic Interiors

Jocelyn Bouraly on Villa Cavrois

Mireia Massagué on finding success through a new kind of partnership

Danish Moderns – Looking Back at Our Mini-Seminar

Venturo house complements Exhibition Centre WeeGee’s offering

Lecture report: Remembering Richard Neutra

Hôtel Mezzara and the Guimard Museum project

We welcome 13 new members!

BREAKING NEWS: 8 Wright Sites Inscribed on Unesco World Heritage List!

LECTURE 29 August - Raymond Neutra: My Father and Frank Lloyd Wright

Iconic Reads

Iconic Houses End Year Message

City-ordered rebuild of landmark house stirs debate: Appropriate or overreach?

Kohlberg House Restoration in Progress

Planned Demolition of Rietveld Homes in Reeuwijk

Renovation Gili House in Crisis

An Iconic Saga

Restoring Eileen Gray’s Villa E-1027 and Clarifying the Controversies

Modernism on the East Coast

Iconic Houses in Latin America

Conference testimonials

House Tours May 2018 

Expert Meetings

Natascha Drabbe - Iconic Houses: The Next Chapter

Terence Riley -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Philip Johnson

New era for Villa E-1027 and Cap Moderne

Hilary Lewis on Philip Johnson and his Glass House

John Arbuckle on Great House Tours

William D. Earls on the Harvard Five in New Canaan

Stover Jenkins on Working for Philip Johnson

Frederick Noyes on his Father’s House

Scott Fellows and Craig Bassam on their Passion for Preservation

Jorge Liernur -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Latin American Modernism(s)

Fabio Grementieri on Modernism in Argentina

Catalina Corcuera Cabezut on Casa Luis Barragán

Renato Anelli on Lina Bo Bardi’s Casa de Vidro

Tim McClimon on Corporate Preservation

Amanda Nelson on Building Donor Relationships

John Bacon on Planned Giving

Jean-Paul Warmoes on the Art of Fundraising in America

Chandler McCoy on Why Less is More

Katherine Malone-France on Moving with the Times

Anne Mette Rahbæk on Philanthropic Investments and Preservation

Peter McMahon on Saving Modern Houses on Cape Cod

Toshiko Kinoshita on Japanese Modern Heritage Houses

Roland Reisley on Life in a Frank Lloyd Wright House

5th Iconic Houses Conference May 2018

Kristin Stone, Pasadena Tour Company

Restoring the past: The Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Home Studio

Behind the Scenes: Hendrick de Keyser Association

Crosby Doe, Architecture for Sale

Latin America Special – Focus on Mexico

De Stijl in Drachten

Preserving the Nancarrow House-Studio

Meet the Friends - Nanne de Ru

Latin America Special – Focus on Brazil

Jan de Jong’s House is Latest Hendrick de Keyser Acquisition

Stay in a Belgian Modernist Masterpiece

In Berlin’s Modernist Network

Rietveld-Schröder House Celebrates De Stijl Anniversary

Meet Our New Foundation Board Members

Maintaining Aalto's Studio – Linoleum Conservation

Virtual Tour of a Papaverhof Home in 3D

Getty Grant for Villa E-1027

Plečnik House in Ljubljana

Iconic Dacha

Iconic Houses: A Bohemian Road Trip

Work in Progress: Capricho de Gaudí

11 Le Corbusier Homes now on Unesco World Heritage List

At home with Le Corbusier

Henry van de Velde’s Study in Haus Hohe Pappeln Restored

Lynda Waggoner reports

A Conference to Remember

4th International Iconic Houses Conference

Guest of Honor - Harry Gesner

Fallingwater: European Lecture Tour

Wright Plus 2016 Walk

Susan Macdonald, Getty Conservation Institute

John Mcllwee, Garcia House

Meet the Friends – Elisabeth Tostrup

Iconic Houses: The Story So Far

Willie van Burgsteden, designer Iconic Houses

Buff Kavelman, Philanthropic Advisor

Meet the Friends - Frederick Noyes

Sheridan Burke, GML Heritage

Meet the Friends - Raymond Neutra

Sidney Williams, Frey House

Franklin Vagnone and Deborah Ryan, Museum Anarchists

Meet the Friends - James Haefner

Toshiko Mori, architect

Malachi Connolly, Cape Cod Modern House Trust

Meet the Friends - Penny Sparke

Lucia Dewey Atwood, Eames House

Cory Buckner, Mutual Housing Site Office

Jeffrey Herr, Hollyhock House

Speaking Volumes: Building the Iconic Houses Library

Sarah Lorenzen, Neutra VDL Studio and Residences

Ted Bosley, Gamble House

Keeping It Modern - Getty Conservation Grants

Meet the Friends - Thomas Schönauer

Wim de Wit, Stanford University

Linda Dishman, Los Angeles Conservancy

Jesse Lattig, Pasadena Heritage

Join us in Los Angeles! Update

Work in Progress: Casa Vicens

Work in Progress: Van Wassenhove House

Work in Progress: Villa Cavrois

Work in Progress: The Pearlroth House

Conference calls!

Follow us!

Third Iconic Houses Conference a huge success

Conference House Tours Barcelona

Marta Lacambra, Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera

Natascha Drabbe, Iconic Houses Foundation

Special speaker Oscar Tusquets

Jordi Tresserras, UNESCO Network ‘Culture, tourism and development’

Christen Obel, Utzon Foundation

Elena Ruiz Sastre, Casa Broner

Fernando Alvarez Prozorovich, La Ricarda

Tim Benton, Professor of Art History (Emeritus)

Susana Landrove, Docomomo Spain

Rossend Casanova, Casa Bloc

Conference Program 25 November 2014

Jordi Falgàs, Casa Rafael Masó

Documentary La Ricarda

Marga Viza, Casa Míla/La Pedrera

Celeste Adams, Frank Lloyd Wright Trust

Conference 25 November 2014 at La Pedrera

Henry Urbach, The Glass House

Victoria & Albert Museum London November 12, 2013

Tommi Lindh, new director of the Alvar Aalto Foundation and Museum

Iveta Černá, Villa Tugendhat

Lynda Waggoner, Fallingwater

Kimberli Meyer, MAK Center

Rent a house designed by Gerrit Rietveld

Barragán House on Screen

Gesamtkunstwerk – An Icon on the Move

Triennale der Moderne 27 September - 13 October 2013

Prestigious Art Nouveau mansions in Brussels open

September 14 + 15: Heritage Days in Paris

June's New Arrivals: Museum Apartments

Iconic Houses is now on Twitter and Facebook

Corbu’s Cabanon: Reconstruction and Lecture

Projekt Mies In Krefeld: Life-sized model of the Krefeld Clubhouse

New arrivals: Spain special

MAMO: Le Corbu’s ‘Park in the Sky’ open 12 June

Taut's Home wins Europa Nostra Award

Annual Wright Architectural Housewalk: 18 May

Frank Lloyd Wright Homes on Screen

Message from the Editor

Neutra’s House on Screen

Michel Richard, Fondation Le Corbusier

Symposium The Public and the Modern House

Melnikov House on Screen

Iconic Houses in the media

Message from the Editor

Round Table Review

Eileen Gray House on Screen

Copy Culture

At Home in the 20th Century

New 20th century Iconic Houses website launches

Philippe Bélaval, Centre des monuments nationaux

Posted October 20, 2022

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Pierre Cuypers' House and Workshops

  • Cuypers at his work table. Cuypershuis Collection.
  • Pierre Cuypers with his collaborators in the workshop. Photo: Cuypershuis Collection.
  • Pierre Cuypers with his family. Photo: Cuypershuis Collection.
  • Pierre Cuypers, glass negative. Photo: Cuypershuis Collection.
  • Cuypers' workshop. Cuypershuis Collection.
  • Cuypershuis, Pierre Cuypers, Roermond, Netherlands, 1853.
  • Woodshed in the garden of the Cuypershuis, Pierre Cuypers, Roermond, Netherlands, 1903.
  • Sculpture gallery in the garden of the Cuypershuis, Pierre Cuypers, Roermond, Netherlands, 1853.
  • Entrance to Cuypers' workshops, Pierre Cuypers, Roermond, Netherlands, 1853.
  • Entrance vestibule in the parental home, Joseph Cuypers, Roermond, Netherlands, 1907.
  • Ceiling in the hall of honor for Pierre Cuypers, Joseph Cuypers, Roermond, Netherlands, 1907.
  • Museum presentation in the Cuypershuis, introduction room.
  • Museum presentation in the Cuypershuis, Pierre Cuypers' study.
  • Museum presentation in the Cuypershuis, the living room of the Cuypers family.
  • Museum presentation in the Cuypershuis, Cuypers and his church designs.
  • Cuypers at his work table. Cuypershuis Collection.
  • Pierre Cuypers with his collaborators in the workshop. Photo: Cuypershuis Collection.
  • Pierre Cuypers with his family. Photo: Cuypershuis Collection.
  • Pierre Cuypers, glass negative. Photo: Cuypershuis Collection.
  • Cuypers' workshop. Cuypershuis Collection.
  • Cuypershuis, Pierre Cuypers, Roermond, Netherlands, 1853.
  • Woodshed in the garden of the Cuypershuis, Pierre Cuypers, Roermond, Netherlands, 1903.
  • Sculpture gallery in the garden of the Cuypershuis, Pierre Cuypers, Roermond, Netherlands, 1853.
  • Entrance to Cuypers' workshops, Pierre Cuypers, Roermond, Netherlands, 1853.
  • Entrance vestibule in the parental home, Joseph Cuypers, Roermond, Netherlands, 1907.
  • Ceiling in the hall of honor for Pierre Cuypers, Joseph Cuypers, Roermond, Netherlands, 1907.
  • Museum presentation in the Cuypershuis, introduction room.
  • Museum presentation in the Cuypershuis, Pierre Cuypers' study.
  • Museum presentation in the Cuypershuis, the living room of the Cuypers family.
  • Museum presentation in the Cuypershuis, Cuypers and his church designs.

Pierre Cuypers: Grand Master of Neo-Gothic Architecture

On a tour of the most iconic houses in the Netherlands, Natascha Drabbe takes us to the home of Pierre Cuypers, the most important representative of neo-Gothic architecture in the nineteenth century. His home in Roermond was renamed the Cuypershuis in 2011. The museum houses masterpieces originating from Pierre Cuypers as well as objects made or used in the workshops.

Text: Natascha Drabbe

March 3, 2021, marked the hundredth anniversary of P.J.H. Cuypers' death. That Cuypers had his roots in Roermond is not very well known. One rather associates him with Amsterdam, where his two most famous works stand: the Rijksmuseum (1876-1885) and the Central Station (1881-1889). Cuypers, however, was primarily an architect of churches. He designed more than a hundred, of which about seventy were built. In addition to being a successful architect, he was also a project developer and, at the turn of the last century, the Chief Government Architect.

Honoured and reviled
During my art history studies, there was some smirking about the nineteenth century and thus about Cuypers as the grand master of neo-Gothic architecture. That was regarded just regressive and not innovative. Throughout his life and work many common threads can be drawn, such as the emphasis on the importance of craftsmanship, the preference for rational, neo-Gothic architecture and the pursuit of a total work of art. One characteristic dominates his oeuvre: the pursuit of beauty. Cuypers combined colours, patterns and ornaments to his heart's content. Such embellishments were appreciated in his time, but increasingly loathed during the 20th century. Some non-Catholics felt that his architecture took the Netherlands back to the 'dark' Middle Ages.

Recently, Cuypers' oeuvre has been reappraised. Since the opening of the Cuypershuis in Roermond in 2011 and the reopening of 'his' Rijksmuseum in 2013, Pierre Cuypers is once again in the spotlight. In the new permanent presentation at the Cuypershuis, visitors can look over the shoulder of the famous architect to discover how he managed to create his incredible oeuvre. Not only his person and character are highlighted. There is also plenty of attention for his ambitious drive for innovation, his sources of inspiration and his emphasis on craftsmanship.

Life Cycle
Petrus Josephus Hubertus Cuypers was born in Roermond on May 16, 1827, the ninth and youngest child of Joannes Hubertus Cuypers and Maria Joanna Bex. He grew up in his hometown and attended the Municipal (Stedelijk) College there. At the age of seventeen, he leaves for Antwerp to study architecture at the Art Academy. Cuypers is a good student and in 1849 he passes and obtains the Prix d'Excellence. He returns to Roermond and there receives his first major commission: the restoration of the Munster Church. He is then also appointed city architect. In Antwerp, Cuypers meets his first wife, the Antwerp-born Rosalia Vandevin, while studying. They marry in 1850 and have two daughters. Rosalia dies of tuberculosis, as does their second daughter. In 1859, Cuypers remarries Antoinette Alberdingk Thijm. With her, he has two sons and three daughters. His son Joseph and later grandson Pierre jr. become architects like their (grand) father. At the age of ninety-three, Pierre Cuypers died in Roermond. Cuypers' influence can still be seen in many places in downtown Roermond. For example, you will find his statue near the Munster Church on the Munster Square and a Cuypers walk has been set out that takes you past the architect's well-known and lesser-known buildings.

Craftsmanship comes first  

House and Workshop
In 1853, at the age of twenty-five, Pierre Cuypers designed and built a strikingly symmetrical building on the outskirts of his hometown of Roermond. Not only is it the home for his own family, but there is also plenty of room for workshops. It is a unique complex in which he lived and worked with his many employees. In this 'factory house', Cuypers was able to realise his ideas. The neo-Gothic building is a sample of what he wanted and was capable of as an architect and a showpiece of his artistic views. His calling card is an innovative blend of traditional brick construction (his favourite building material) and international, English-inspired Gothic. The austere facades of the workshops flank the central, more decorated, facades of the living areas that are embellished with tile tableaux and statues. This is considered the epitome of Cuypers' building decorations. Cuypers designed not only buildings, but also complete interiors. In the workshops near his house, his employees realized all these designs for sculptures, paintings, and furniture by hand.
The living area was arranged according to modern nineteenth-century insights. It was a large mansion, equipped with every comfort. In the garden was a sculpture gallery and a woodshed, where the wood needed to produce sculptures and furniture was stored and dried.

Craftsmanship
From his workshops, Cuypers delivered countless works of art, statues, ornaments, and altars around the world. Orders come in based on an extensive catalogue and fabrication takes place almost on an assembly line. All this about a century and a half ago, at a time when, as a great entrepreneur, he was providing jobs in his city. Craftsmanship is paramount. Early in his career, Cuypers designs a series of painted neo-Gothic furniture. They are inspired by the Middle Ages and show great craftsmanship. The details are beautiful and surprising. He is also the designer of the throne, on which the king delivers the speech from the throne every year during Prince's Day. This throne dates from 1904.

Pierre Cuypers is in the spotlight again  

Vondelstraat
If there is one street in Amsterdam that can be associated with Cuypers' name, it is Vondelstraat. The eye-catcher of this street, developed largely by Cuypers himself, is the
Vondel Church. Since 1881, the architect lived at 77 Vondelstraat in the left half of a double villa designed by himself called Oud Leyerhoven. On the front facade, he had tile tableaux installed to the design of the painter George Sturm. The accompanying captions by Alberdingk Thijm put into perspective the criticism that prominent artists such as Cuypers inevitably had to endure during their careers: 'Jan bedenckt et / Piet volbrenght et / Claesgen laeckt et / Och, wat maeckt et'. ('Jan invents it / Pete accomplishes it / Claesgen denounces it / Ah, what does it matter '. With this, Cuypers clearly indicates that he cared little about how he was thought of.

Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House
For those who are curious about more stories about the developments in Dutch residential architecture in the twentieth century, Iconic Houses has made a video in which five specialists discussing the following topics:

  • Hygiene and Health in the Modern Home by Hetty Berens, Curator of the Sonneveld House.
  • Palaces for the People by Valentijn Carbo, Architectural Historian at Hendrick de Keyser Monuments.
  • A Woman’s Place: Clients & Architects, by Natalie Dubois, Curator of Design at the Centraal Museum Utrecht.
  • Experiments with Space by Robert von der Nahmer, resident of the Diagoon House.
  • Home as a Self-Portrait: Architect ‘s Houses by Natascha Drabbe, Architectural Historian and owner of the Van Schijndel House.

The 1 hour video can be streamed via the webshop.

About the author
Natascha Drabbe, architectural historian and resident of the renowned Van Schijndelhuis in Utrecht, is Executive Director and Founder of Iconic Houses, the international network of owners and managers of architecturally significant houses from the twentieth century. This group of museum professionals, lovers of modern heritage and private owners of modern houses strives to preserve modern residential heritage. The website iconichouses.org serves as a platform for more than one hundred and fifty Iconic Houses around the world, of which no fewer than 24 are in the Netherlands. The houses can all be visited (some only by appointment) and in some you can even stay overnight.

This article previously appeared in Dutch Magazine Herenhuis #87, January/February 2022. Translated with www.DeepL.com.

Posted October 20, 2022