Monument 't Hoge Veld becomes care farm with studio

Thanks to much enthusiasm and financial support from the government, the monument was saved

The pearl of Duiven, that is how national monument 't Hoge Veld was called by urban planning agency BRO at its presentation to the city council on April 11, 2017. The 17th-century dilapidated farmstead had to be saved, because it was an identity marker on the Rijksweg and an icon for the municipality of Duiven. The council was advised to look for grant opportunities to prevent further decay. By the time construction started in 2023, much of the roof had already collapsed. There was a chance that the monument would be demolished, because no one dared to do it financially. But in this case, the council's advice was followed and there was 6.5 tons of subsidy. Still, from beginning to end, it remained financially difficult to transform the project into a residential farmhouse for people with autism.

Transformations of national monuments are complicated processes, involving many parties. That is why a driven initiator with a lot of experience is needed to make the gem shine again. It was Gerard Hendriksen, once a project developer for the Vivare housing association, who had already transformed an old farmhouse in Groessen and who had been planning to do the same for about ten years. He was the first to bring together the people who dared to take on this project. The architect started the first sketches in 2016. Later also joined Rob van de Beeten, father of a son with disabilities, who had enough courage to purchase the dilapidated farmhouse that was eventually taken over by housing association Vrijleve. And in 2024, contractor De Vries, with a lot of experience in monuments, brought the farmhouse to completion.

First to move was visual artist Will Schropp, who had his studio in the old pig barn. Although he had made the space his own, Schropp still worked enthusiastically. He was the first to move into his new studio on the west side of the site. Demolition was the best option because no proper apartments could be built in the barn. The monument committee agreed to build four new apartments in the form of a black barn that had once stood with the farmstead. The old barn had been built in 1937, so young compared to the farmhouse.

Following the example of the pig barn, the part of the farm was also difficult to transform into apartments, due to the little daylight and the centuries-old wooden beam construction that had to be preserved. With a monument, there is always a struggle between preserving the monument as much as possible and meeting the needs of the future residents, who in this case also have disabilities. The committee agreed to make doors in the façade on the first floor so that the residents can access a private terrace from the apartments. A majority of the committee members also agreed to make Velux windows in the roof that the residents could slide out. This would allow them to immediately create a balcony, turning an attic space into more of a living room. Ultimately, however, this intervention did not go through because nothing could be changed in the existing century-old wooden construction.

At this point the contradiction between the wishes of the future residents versus the wishes of the committee became clearly visible. The existing wooden structure no longer had a function, as it was taken over by a steel structure. Also, the existing construction as a whole was no longer visible, as the old part was divided into living, sleeping and bathrooms for the six apartments. Many sketches were made to integrate the wooden columns into the apartments as best as possible, but in two living rooms the crooked column is in the middle of them and in the corners. 

The current vision of the monument committee often causes a huge contrast between old and new so that the living room is neither meat nor fish, such as the century-old column between the white stucco walls making the room look more like an exhibition space for an abstract wooden artwork. The committee's wishes are then no longer in line with the wishes of the future user. 

How instructive would it be for the committee to go ask residents after a year how they like it and discover that livability is more important than a change in the century-old structure? Nevertheless, members of the committee also cooperated with great enthusiasm to ensure that Duiven's jewel, farmstead 't Hoge Veld, was not demolished. The council also quickly released 0.6 tons of euros for the garden surrounding the national monument.