The North Holland farmhouse De Kikkerij in Meppel will be a municipal monument. That has been decided by the Board of B and W. Historical research has shown that the farm type is a rare occurrence in the Drenthe landscape. The building from 1860 is also ‘valuable because of the high degree of integrity of the form and structure’, says the research report.
The historic farmhouse is located in the former reclamation area between Meppel and Nijeveen. Years ago, the municipality of Meppel purchased the farm building with cattle sheds and surrounding agricultural land for further development of the Nieuwveense Landen residential area.
Last year, heritage organization Het Oversticht conducted further research into the cultural-historical and architectural-historical value of De Kikkerij on behalf of B and W. And that is big, is the conclusion. The farm type is valuable, because of the rarity of its appearance, not only for Meppel and the surrounding area, but even at a provincial level.
The Meppeler farmhouse on the Dekkerweg is the odd one out in Drenthe. The special architectural style of this farm type is mainly found in North Holland. The farm would originally come from there.
The story goes that the farm had to make way for the urban expansion of Amsterdam. There it would have been sold for demolition. In parts, the building, including the wooden trusses of the supporting structure, was loaded onto an empty Drenthe peat barge and sailed to Meppel via the Zuiderzee.
The Drenthe peat skipper Johannes Nijmeijer is said to have taken the building materials with him as ballast, in order to be able to sail safely across the Zuiderzee with his peat barge. Once back in Meppel, he is said to have rebuilt the stolp farm in 1860 in the newly reclaimed peat area between Meppel and Nijeveen. He was probably the first tenant, and became owner in 1899.
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