Nieuwe Ginnekenstraat between World War I & World War II (Image courtesy of Breda City Archives)

Our Neo-Renaissance 19th century monumental building, with its colorful stained-glass windows, dates from 1884 and was built to a design by architect Suyerbuik, commissioned by Colonel Frans Petrus Cavaljé, then serving at the Royal Military Academy. The building underwent extensive renovations in 1919 and 1969. In 2018–2019, the building was fully restored, and the original ornaments were carefully repaired.

The large back room with conservatory is the most spectacular room in the property. According to
surviving architectural drawings, this is the result of the 1919 renovation. The paneling of the lounge and conservatory was designed in 1919 by Charles Estourgie of Nijmegen in the Dutch Neo-
Renaissance style. Born and educated in Amsterdam, Estourgie collaborated with, among others, Michel de Klerk and Pieter Kramer, who would later become important designers within the Amsterdam School movement.

The quality of the interior, with its ceiling finish, paneling, doors, passageway, fireplace surrounds, and stained glass (by the Bouvy firm from Dordrecht), attests to its quality not only through the design but also through the use of materials. While the use of imitative materials became increasingly common among the middle class due to industrialization, genuine materials were still used here, primarily oak wood adorned with hand-carved decorations. The theme of heraldry recurs frequently in the ornaments. The finish is traditional yet luxuriously executed for the period. The lounge and conservatory were widened in 1919 by incorporating the original hallway between the back room and the kitchen into this space. To allow more daylight, a skylight was added to the conservatory roof, which was later closed up again. The skylights of the bay windows and the side windows of the conservatory, which were originally exterior windows, consist of stained glass. The window above the French doors features four medallions with antique scenes in white against a blue background. they depict each of the four seasons.

The front door and its doorpost are made of teak and most likely also date from the renovation in 1919. On the exterior, the door features profiling and design that transitions from Art Nouveau to Art Deco. The graceful design of the bars in front of the viewing window aligns perfectly with this. The transom window with stained glass are likely also from the 1919 renovation. The medallion features a portrait bust of a girl with a fruit. Given the costume she is wearing, it is inspired by the painting style of the Dutch Masters of the seventeenth century. The renovation of 1919 was commissioned by Alphons Johannes Maria van Iersel (1884-1948), who had lived in the Nieuwe Ginnekenstraat building since 1916. Since 1911, he had been the director of the then very successful Kwatta chocolate factory, which was best known for the so-called Kwatta bars. Van Iersel had joined the company as a clerk and had worked his way up from bookkeeper and authorized representative to general manager. In 1911, when he was appointed director, he also became a partner in the group. He did not live on Nieuwe Ginnekenstraat for very long. In 1925, he moved to the much larger and even more richly decorated Villa Merula on the nearby Baronielaan, where he lived until his death in 1948.
Ophthalmologist Wiegersma was the last resident until the building became an office in 1969. From 1940 to 1965, he held a consulting room in the salon and a waiting room in the small space in what is now the liquor store/slijterij to the left of the front door. Wiegersma was the son of the famous Hendrik Wiegersma, from which the the works such as “Dorp aan de rivier” were based, and a well-known general practitioner in East Brabant. He was also married to the daughter of the great Breda entrepreneur ever, Mr. Charles Stulemeijer, owner of Hollandsche Kunstzijde Industrie, HKI, later AKU.