The residents of the building that did remain standing, the Euwe family, did not want to sell the house when the housing corporation asked for it. That was financially unfavorable, says the occupant of the building. The family, who have owned the house since 1903, also loves the house.
The demolition of the adjacent houses began in 2018. The reason for demolishing all the houses was a bad foundation. The Euwe family chose to stay in the house while the surrounding houses went down. A unique situation, says housing association Woonstad.
Exciting moments
“We have demolished more often in addition to existing buildings, but never on both sides of a single home”, spokesperson Norbert van Brakel told regional broadcaster Rijnmond. “We have experienced several exciting moments,” he looks back.
The foundation of the ‘lonely house’ had to be restored before the demolition could start. “And that demolition had to be done very carefully and by hand,” he says. “After that, driving was still an exciting moment.”
Sixteen rental homes have been built around the house, most of which have since been let. Woonstad requires 1579 euros rent per month for the houses. The design of the new-build houses has been adjusted to better match the façade of the house that remained standing.
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