SCHOOTEN, NORTH HOLLAND
Whither events in architectural history were tending will be seen in the following illustrations. The “Goudkantoor” at Groningen (page [60]), bearing a motto and date of 1635, and a house near to it of the year 1661 (page [61]), have quaint gables, curiously shaped and laden with carved stone decorations. On the walls below the same complex treatment continues, especially on the “Goudkantoor,” the entrance doorway of which is emphasised by the work surrounding it. At Franeker (page [62]) is an extreme development of the step gable, with the four steps supporting masses of coarsely-designed ornamentation. The heavy pediments to the windows are conspicuous, as are the many stone details. Two panels are inscribed with “ANNO 1662.” With the above-mentioned may be compared the two gables at Alkmaar (page [65]) which betray the same source of origin. Each is crowned by a stone pediment, and the steps have carvings resting upon them. Applied to the wall of the farthermost house, and placed centrally between the windows of the second storey, is a notable iron wall-tie of much larger size than was usual. An enlarged drawing of it is reproduced on page [64]. Another variation of gable outline is illustrated from ’s Hertogenbosch (page [63]). In this case the stone-capped sides follow the lines of sweeping curves, and on them, facing outwardly, are little carved bunches of fruit and flowers. The front face of this building is remarkable for the use of pilasters. They are boldly carried up from bases to the head of the gable. The pillars, executed in unrelieved brickwork, have stone capitals of the Ionic order which carry an entablature. There appears the date of MDCLXXI. The bricks are 2 inches wide by 9 inches long and are laid about five courses to one foot.
THE FERRY-HOUSE, NEAR GENNEP, NORTH BRABANT
BEEK, GELDERLAND
It eventually came to pass that the gabled treatment, which had been the guiding principle of house design for so many generations, was given up. And with the disappearance of it there went that which had given character to the architecture of Holland. The links of the tradition were broken. The old sources of inspiration no longer served. Inherited ability and skill, originality and vigour, were being lost, and the last traces of native ideas are to be found in inconspicuous buildings such as that given from The Hague (page [66]). Although hipped roofs, wide projecting cornices and other Renaissance features were employed, as is shown by the drawings from Velsen (page [67]), and Zutphen (page [69]), a pure Renaissance domestic architecture did not become established. When the traditional style, owning both Gothic and Renaissance motives, had ceased to hold its ground, the stream of design—which until then had flowed continuously—ebbed low, and houses became uninteresting and commonplace. Away in the country the town architecture is mirrored in the brick buildings of the numerous villages. Less pretentious in appearance, their style is well suited to the simpler conditions that there obtain; for the crowded activity of the town waterways is absent on the calm canals that wind between meadows, and give communication from village to village; on the quays life moves placidly. Spaarndam (page [71]) furnishes a typical village view, with its gabled brick and white-fronted houses, screened by delicate greenery. The Ferry House, near Gennep (page [73]), has more ornate gables, curved and stepped, and on the front is diaper brickwork.
BRIGDAMME, ZEELAND (DATED 1622)