During a walk through old Zoetermeer you may have spotted one: a decorated stone on the facade of a building. Nowadays it is a beautiful decoration, but in the past such a stone had an important function.
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These decorated stones are called facing stones. In general, they are small stones with a relief, often with bright colors and a caption or caption. You will not only find them in our city, but throughout the Netherlands. And then mainly on old buildings. Occasionally a plaque is placed on a newer building, for example because the original building has been demolished.
Facing bricks in Zoetermeer
Various facing bricks can be found in Zoetermeer. Think of the stone on the facade of the house at Schinkelweg 77. The year of construction of the house is stated on the facing stone, 1926. In the city you also see facing stones with texts such as Never thought.
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Predecessor of the house number
What is the story behind these stones? They used to have an important function in our municipality: they served as addresses. Onno Boers, facing brick specialist and author of the book The Facing Stones of Amsterdam, wrote: “People lived in Het Swarte Schaap, in De Rode Leeuw, in Het Melkmeisje or in the house opposite or next to it.” The facing brick is therefore the predecessor of the house number. In addition, the stones were seen as a kind of billboards for companies. In the early 19th century, street names and house numbers were introduced in the Netherlands, so that facing bricks were no longer necessary.
A story
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Family names or professions were depicted on many gable stones. For example, a dentist had a facing stone with a molar on it and a scribe had a stone with a feather. Was there a competing colleague in town with almost the same stone? Then they just added something, like a crown. Other stones referred to a family crest or a religious or political belief of the resident. There is a story behind every facing brick you encounter.