Author | Lightnews

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 4h

Collar stays keep your shirt collar from curling like a cheap gift wrap

Once made from whalebone, now mostly plastic

Real ones come in metal or mother-of-pearl

If you throw them out or forget to use them, you deserve the floppy collar you get.

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 7h

Villa Empain, Brussels

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 8h

But I still think, he's 'our' guy...

What do you think?

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 8h

And then there's his ultimate Vinex-slop.

Fake 1930s style houses. Sterile, boring, and überkitsch.

While Dudok, and Amsterdam School masters built with a lot of variety, these are copy-pasted everywhere in the country...

1

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 8h

Here it gets a bit Euroslop-like. But, it's still is a huge improvement compared to how most shopping in the Netherlands streets look...

Here's his attempt on Jugendstil/Delft School'esque commercial real estate.

1

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 8h

He doesn't only design houses, he built a lot of equestrian real estate too.

Like the Stoeterij Lunteren.

Functional, elegant, and built to age well.

1

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 8h

His own house: De Wientjesvoort, was bought in 1999 as a ruin.

He fully restored the manor with trompe l’oeil murals, portraits of his family, and period-accurate everything.

So he does have style, yet his customers probably prefer the white drywall aesthetics...

They don't want gesamtkunst.

1

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 8h

But where it gets really bad, or the interiors...

Which is why it's still nouveau riche kitsch.

I can talk a lot about this, but the images speak for themself...

1

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 8h

In general he's always spot on in terms of exterior, but sometmes misses: like the poorly shaped brick façade on this house...

1

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 8h

His Manors are his peak.

With classical layouts, oftenly the proportions, and the right materials.

These estates will age very well...

1

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 8h

His Jugendstil homes are exceptionally well-made.

Most neo-jugendstil is slop. But Friso Woudstra gets the brick work and proportions right...

1

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 8h

But his bread and butter are thatched roofs, deep dormers, symmetrical facades.

Countryside chic for the Dutch suburbia.

These houses dominate places like Laren, Bloemendaal, and every other upperclass neighbourhood.

1

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 8h

One of his recent project is the new "old" estate here for baroness Hermance van Heeckeren van Kell.

She's known from the program 'Hoe heurt het eigenlijk'

Her now castle is called it Klein Ruurlo.

Made with traditional Dutch building techniques and material.

Needs some green deposit and ivy...

1

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 8h

Friso Woudstra has been an architect for 50 years.
He rebuilt monuments, then started designing new ones.

Inspired by Granpré Molière and Pierre Cuypers...

'I design camouflaged wealth'

1

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 8h

If you’ve spent some time scrolling Dutch luxury listings, you’ve seen his designs.

Friso Woudstra is the architect of the Dutch gentry revival.

Manor houses with floor heating.
Castles with Quooker faucets.

Nouveau riche kitsch, or Dutch revival? 🧵

1

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 10h

Chocolate bar exists because of a Dutchman

In 1828, Casparus van Houten invented the cacao press

It separated cocoa butter from powder

Before his invention, chocolate was just a drink

Dutch exceptionalism...

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 12h

Horn is superior to plastic

Combs that don't frizz

Spoons without iron taste

Stylish buttons for clothing

Flexible shoe horns to easily glide in your shoes

Best of all: all the benefits of plastic, without the microplastics

Antibacterial, aesthetic and built to last...

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 23h

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 1d

We need to return... #verkiezingen2025

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 1d

This is Dutch excellence, that stretches across borders...

The first time I got introduced to it was 2017; at Fortnum & Mason (department store in London).

One of my favorite wines...

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 1d

They even have a Nyetimber Bus, which you can rent, and stops by at every great British Event: Royal Ascot, Goodwood, Royal Regatta etc.

1

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 1d

Today it's served in the most luxury hotels in the world, including:

The Savoy, London
The Alpina, Gstaad
The Rosewood, London
Upper House, Hong Kong

And loved by numerous clubs, like the Royal Thames Yacht Club

1

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 1d

While new world wine brands chase disruption, Heerema built in silence.

His visions is not about quarters. He rather talks in decades.

By 2030 he wants Nyetimber to sell 2 million bottles a year.

From a country mocked for its weather...

1

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 1d

And today, Nyetimber is served at royal events, Michelin-starred restaurants, and luxury hotels.

It exports to Asia, Scandinavia, and Germany.

In an industry obsessed with heritage and terroir, Heerema broke through years of Champagne-region propaganda.

1

Robbert Leusink @robbertleusink.bsky.social · 1d

They use the grapes as Champagne: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier.

Made in the méthode traditionnelle. And with the same long bottle aging. Which is sometimes 5+ years.

Yet grown in England.
And in blind tastings, Nyetimber often wins from champagne.

The French took notice.

1