It was a quest, but we succeeded. The iconic former country house of Frits Philips on the De Wielewaal estate in Eindhoven will be given a new purpose: two-star restaurant Tribeca from Heeze will be located there. Rental price: minimum 320,000 euros per year, excluding VAT and in any case for ten years.
The house where Frits Philips lived from 1934 until his death in 2005 will be open for dining from the spring of 2026. Two-star restaurant Tribeca then leaves Heeze for the iconic villa that Frits Philips had built. This is reported by the catering site Misset Horeca. On Friday, the municipality of Eindhoven wanted to announce what will be in the country house, but that now seems to have already been leaked. The municipality has now moved the announcement to Tuesday.
In addition to the restaurant, according to the catering site, there should also be a hotel, with a number of exclusive suites. It is not yet known whether the name of the star store will remain the same.
The municipality bought the De Wielewaal estate three years ago for 29 million euros from the then owner, sock farmer Marc Brouwers.
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The intention was to open up the estate. Something unique because the mysterious, former estate of the Philips family in Eindhoven was not open to the public for a century, except for a few times.
The gates of the estate will open this fall. The natural area with five country houses extends over 142 hectares, about two hundred football fields.
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No large-scale events
The enormous villa was built in 1934 on behalf of Frits Philips, on the estate of his father Anton Philips. After the Second World War the building was expanded. Together with the garage, service residence and other outbuildings, the country house has a total area of 3,285 m2.
In the summer of last year, the municipality was looking for a new use for the building. It was stated that the minimum rental price per year is 320,000 euros excluding VAT. Conditions were also imposed on the new destination. For example, organizing large-scale events is not permitted. The lease had to be entered into for at least ten years.
Last week the municipality announced that Natuurmonumenten is moving into the former gardener’s house. There should be a visitors center there. The organization will, among other things, give guided tours of the site and help manage nature.