Canal house
Encyclopedia
A canal house is a (usually old) house overseeing a canal
. These houses are often slim, high and deep. Because of the danger of flooding the front door is sometimes higher up and only reachable via stairs. The floor of the main storey lies about seven to nine steps above street level. Many stoops disappeared in the 19th century when entrances were moved to the basement.
Canal houses usually had a basement and a loft and attic where trade goods could be stored. A special beam
or pulley
installation would be located in the attic
to hoist up valuable goods, like spices
, cotton
, or heavier stuff like cocoa. The pulleys are still used for moving furniture.
At the back of a canal house there will usually be a back garden
that runs either halfway or all the way to the house behind. The garden would be laid out to the taste of the time and the financial position of the owner. At the bottom of the garden there was sometimes a summerhouse where family and visitors could relax.
In the second half of the 17th century there would sometimes be built a rear extension of the building and linked by a passage to the front house. The courtyard ensured light. It could be used for many purposes, and during World War II Anne Frank
and her family were using the back house as a hiding place.
When the first owner of the house had more houses built by the same carpenter or contractor and using the same or mirrored design
these are called twin or triplet houses. There are even sets of four or five identically designed houses. In those case the houses will be smaller than a normal house (as three houses were built on two land lot). The width of a canal house and the depth of its garden varies a lot. (This is because the land lots in the 17th century started from 18 Amsterdam feet (an Amsterdam foot being 28.13 cm) but then went to 20, 22, 24 and 26 feet.)
Along the canals in Amsterdam
are also double wide houses, especially along the Herengracht. These mansions were built on two land lots, a back house was not needed. Wide houses nearly always have steps on both sides. At Herengracht 386, the museum Het Grachtenhuis (The Canal House) is lokated, which tells the story of the Amsterdam canal belt.
If he also bought the lots behind those houses and built a carriage house
and or warehouse
s, it is sometimes referred to as a "city palace". Warehouses were much deeper than houses because daylight did not need to reach the centre. As trading and transport patterns changed, the warehouses lost their original function. Over the years many have been turned into living accommodation.
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
. These houses are often slim, high and deep. Because of the danger of flooding the front door is sometimes higher up and only reachable via stairs. The floor of the main storey lies about seven to nine steps above street level. Many stoops disappeared in the 19th century when entrances were moved to the basement.
Canal houses usually had a basement and a loft and attic where trade goods could be stored. A special beam
Beam
Beam may refer to:*Beam , a construction element*Beam , the most extreme width of a nautical vessel, or a point alongside the ship at the mid-point of its length*A narrow, propagating stream of particles or energy:...
or pulley
Pulley
A pulley, also called a sheave or a drum, is a mechanism composed of a wheel on an axle or shaft that may have a groove between two flanges around its circumference. A rope, cable, belt, or chain usually runs over the wheel and inside the groove, if present...
installation would be located in the attic
Attic
An attic is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building . Attic is generally the American/Canadian reference to it...
to hoist up valuable goods, like spices
Spice
A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...
, cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, or heavier stuff like cocoa. The pulleys are still used for moving furniture.
At the back of a canal house there will usually be a back garden
Back garden
A back garden is a residential garden located at the rear of a property, on the other side of the house from the public street-side entrance and front garden.-Number and size of back gardens:In Britain there are over 10 million back gardens....
that runs either halfway or all the way to the house behind. The garden would be laid out to the taste of the time and the financial position of the owner. At the bottom of the garden there was sometimes a summerhouse where family and visitors could relax.
In the second half of the 17th century there would sometimes be built a rear extension of the building and linked by a passage to the front house. The courtyard ensured light. It could be used for many purposes, and during World War II Anne Frank
Anne Frank
Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank is one of the most renowned and most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Acknowledged for the quality of her writing, her diary has become one of the world's most widely read books, and has been the basis for several plays and films.Born in the city of Frankfurt...
and her family were using the back house as a hiding place.
When the first owner of the house had more houses built by the same carpenter or contractor and using the same or mirrored design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
these are called twin or triplet houses. There are even sets of four or five identically designed houses. In those case the houses will be smaller than a normal house (as three houses were built on two land lot). The width of a canal house and the depth of its garden varies a lot. (This is because the land lots in the 17th century started from 18 Amsterdam feet (an Amsterdam foot being 28.13 cm) but then went to 20, 22, 24 and 26 feet.)
Along the canals in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
are also double wide houses, especially along the Herengracht. These mansions were built on two land lots, a back house was not needed. Wide houses nearly always have steps on both sides. At Herengracht 386, the museum Het Grachtenhuis (The Canal House) is lokated, which tells the story of the Amsterdam canal belt.
If he also bought the lots behind those houses and built a carriage house
Carriage house
A carriage house, also called remise or coach house, is an outbuilding which was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and the related tack.In Great Britain the farm building was called a Cart Shed...
and or warehouse
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
s, it is sometimes referred to as a "city palace". Warehouses were much deeper than houses because daylight did not need to reach the centre. As trading and transport patterns changed, the warehouses lost their original function. Over the years many have been turned into living accommodation.