Herengracht 249

Not many housing types have become part of the architectural heritage of a country to the extent that the Amsterdam merchant’s house did in the Netherlands. The type is inextricably bound up with the famous Grachtengordel (Canal District) to which it owes its existence and of which it determines the character. At the same time, more than four centuries of occupation and renovation have demonstrated that the type, implemented uniquely in each separate dwelling, can absorb big changes in use and residential preferences without losing its appeal. The conversion of Herengracht 249 in 2010 is merely a recent example of the continued incremental transformation that has kept the Grachtengordel habitable since the beginning of the seventeenth century.