Iris' consulting room has a nice big fireplace. In a photo from 2017, you see the conversion, which rests on a beautiful wooden -painted marble-chimney mantle. In the same year we received from the municipality of Rheden a number of interesting documents, including a construction drawing from 1908. However, another fireplace is shown on that drawing (see illustration). If you look very closely, you will see at the top a Dutch saying "Eigen haard is goud waard" (similar to "Home is where the heart is").
That, of course, made us curious. Why was there a different look on the construction drawing than in reality? The paneling, floor and ceiling were made exactly as shown on the construction drawing. Would the old fireplace still be there?
We decided to drill a hole in the conversion to be able to watch with a tiny camera. In the photo we clearly saw the glaze tiles and joints. So the fireplace was still there!
We then carefully removed the conversion. In the photos you can see the removal of the conversion to the final result, in 2022. Of course we kept the old wooden chimney mantle in honor (also a piece of true craftsmanship) and moved it to the living room.
Nice detail: the saying at the top of the show is adapted on the construction, even though it has the same meaning ;)
PS: at the end of 2021 we had contact with a former occupant of the house (1950s) and she told us that she did not know the (original) fireplace. So, it must have been hidden for a long time. We can only guess at the reason.
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