Villa Bluijssen Family

The Bluijssen family used to be an important employer in Asten. They owned a butter and margarine factory on this street and traded in groceries and textiles.

Manufacturers VILLA Sint Jozef, the main structure was built for the Bluijssen family in around 1850 around what is thought to be an older core. The villa was extended in 1904 with an annex in Neo-Renaissance style and Art Nouveau elements. The villa is located on the corner of Julianastraat and Koningsplein and is currently used as an office. The extension has a bay window on the short façade overlooking Koningsplein. This part of the building is occupied on the upper floor, while the ground floor is used as an office.

Renovations to convert it into an office and upstairs apartment took place in 1980. An extension with a staircase was added to the rear façade, providing the upper floor with a separate entrance. This extension is not protected.

The villa was used for a long time as part of the Bartholomeus Monastery.

Description.

The villa is a single-storey building with a rectangular floor plan and a mansard roof. The roof is covered with slate and has a gutter cornice. The front façade is eight bays wide and plastered. The pilasters are blocked. The door, a double wooden door with wrought-iron grilles, is located in a risalit with a gable roof and wind brace. The risalit is layered. The sliding windows have transom windows filled with a type of rough glass and are set in profiled frames, crowned by a curved broken pediment with a decorative vase. The drip moulding is interrupted by bluestone window sills. The window frames continue in the plasterwork under the windows as pilaster strips, fitted with a diamond head. Fields have been added between them. The cornice is also divided into fields. An oeil-de-boeuf and a dormer window have been placed on either side of the structure in the roof surface.

The side façade on Koningsplein is two storeys high and has a chequered plaster finish on a smooth plinth. The windows on the upper floor have a profiled frame with a crest, as on the ground floor and in the front façade. The window on the far right is wider and divided into three parts with a two-part transom window filled with a type of rough glass. A narrow string course runs beneath the windows. Fields have been added to the cornice at the location of the windows. The side façade on the Bartholomeushof side and the rear façade are also block-plastered. The side façade has windows similar to those at the front, while the upper floor has six-pane windows. The rear façade has T-windows and a simple dormer window. A narrow pavement has been laid in front of the building, separated by a wrought-iron fence. A bluestone staircase has been installed in front of the door. The interior layout of the villa has been largely retained. Parts of the interior have also been preserved. Examples include marble tiles in the hall, decorative stucco work with mouldings and leaf consoles on the walls and ceiling, also in the hall, and panelled doors in wooden moulded frames. The cellar has a barrel vaulted ceiling and the floor is covered with red tiles. Concrete storage shelves are placed against the walls.

On the upper floor, the hallway retains its original height, while the rooms have lowered ceilings. The brick extension has a narrow rectangular floor plan and is two storeys high with a gable roof. On the Koningsplein side, the slightly modified bay window has a pentagonal shape under a surrounding roof with a gutter cornice. The façade on Koningsplein has the same plastered plinth as the villa. On the corners, plastered blocks with diamond heads have been applied to the ground floor, while plastered pilaster strips are visible on the first floor. Natural stone string courses run around the bay window. On three sides of the bay window, there are rectangular windows with transom windows filled with cathedral glass on the ground floor. The window at the front is divided into three parts. In the lintels above, the keystones and capstones are plastered and fitted with a diamond head. Blind niches are visible on the sides of the bay window. Above the windows at the front, a round arch frieze has been installed, the arch fields are filled with glazed tiles depicting flowers. On the upper floor, there are rectangular windows under segmental arches. The arches feature plastered keystones and springing stones. A plastered band is visible underneath. Above the windows, polychrome glazed tiles depicting hunting scenes have been installed in the cornice. Among other things, they depict a fox hunting chickens, a dog hunting a pheasant, geese, a squirrel, a hare, a duck and rabbits. The tiles are of high art-historical quality.

On the Bartholomeushof side, a block-shaped plastered structure with a flat roof has been added to the rear building. This contains the entrance to the rear building.

Against the rear façade is an octagonal turret with an onion dome and decorative wrought-iron finial.

The interior is connected to the villa on the ground floor, while the upper floor is used separately and is accessible via a staircase that was added later.

The building is of general interest because of its architectural and historical value, which is reflected in its design, the special use of materials and the decoration. The building has cultural and historical value because of its historical significance.

Did you know that on the side of the building, at the top of the turret, there are depictions of hunting scenes? Among other things, you can see a fox hunting chickens, a dog hunting a pheasant, geese, a squirrel, a hare, a duck and rabbits.

•    Built in 1850 and extended in 1904 with an extension in Neo-Renaissance style and Art Nouveau elements.

•    Converted into an office and upstairs flat in 1980.

Practical information

- The building is not accessible. However, it can be admired from the outside.

- Tip! Take a look at the hunting scenes on the side of the building, at the top of the bay window.

Type of monument: residential house

Original function: residential house - villa - mansion

Construction period: 1850

Current function: residential house - office building

Monument status: national monument