Villa de Egelantier

**Villa de Egelantier** (also known as **Eglantine House**) is one of the houses built for the Korte family. It is situated in The Hague, near the Frederik Hendrikstraat, a famous shopping street.

## History

During the Second World War (1940-1945) the owner of the corner house of van Beverningkstraat and Willem de Zwijgerlaan built a large, two-level bunker in his large garden. After the war, a flower shop was installed and the bunker was used as storage.

The flower stand was replaced by a proper three-bedroom house in the 1980s built on top of the bunker. The house was blue and had a concrete terrace that filled 90% of the garden. It had two balconies: one overlooking the terrace and one overlooking the back gardens.

When Bernard Korte III bought the home in 1995, he made many alterations to the existing building. Bernard bought more ground from a nearby shop and built the lower-level parlour, which became the tallest room in the house. Secondly, he painted the blue house white to resemble his grandfather's house, Villa Insulinde. As the family grew, Korte needed a new study and so he had one built near the master bedroom, minimizing the master balcony. Lastly, he removed the concrete terrace to enlarge the garden.

The kitchen was enlarged with the added space from the now roofed back balcony and completely remodeled in 2020. The master bathroom followed a year later.

## Lay-out

### Basement levels

A staircase from the south garden leads down to the basement level. There are two crawling spaces above the basement and below the ground floor, one of which has a secret entrance to the main foyer. At the bottom of the stairs are the three basement spaces: a workplace, a fully equipped home gymnasium and a storage space which has a spiral staircase.

### Ground floor

From the front door, one enters the main foyer, which has a closet. A small staircase leads to the upper hallway and the part of the ground floor which is raised. Next to this hallway are the spiral staircase and a downstairs bathroom. On the right of this hallway, one enters the main dining room, which looks out on the south garden and the street. The dining room has chairs from Villa Kortehof, Bernard and Deborah Korte's house in France, as well as two antique wardrobes. The dining room leads into the kitchen (which is raised) and the parlour (which is down a set of stairs).

The kitchen, which was originally a lot smaller, was completely remodeled in 2021 to have a kitchen island that seats three and windows looking out into the east. The kitchen is also the designated breakfast area.

The parlour downstairs includes a fake (and portable) fireplace, an antique stove from France and it provides access to the south garden. It is also the tallest room in the house, which is why the ten-feet tall Christmas tree was placed there every year.

### First floor

The first floor has a small landing with doors to the master suite and the master bathroom. The master bedroom looks out into the street, has two walk-in-closets, as well as a seating area and a balcony looking out into the garden and the street. The master bathroom has two sinks, a walk-in rain shower, a toilet and a bath tub, as well as a seperate closet and laundry room.

### Second floor

The spiral staircase ends on the second floor under a skylight. Two bedrooms are here. The first looks out into the streets and the gardens and is located directly above the master suite. After its occupant's departure it was converted to a library, study and closet space in 2013. The second bedroomo is the smallest out of the three. It looks out into the east and is located above the bathroom. Its window has the best view from the house, and it has always been decorated in tones of orange, gold and yellow to embrace the sunlight coming in from the east.

## Trivia

* As of 2021, the house holds a private gym, a workshop, two basement layers, a formal dining room, a gourmet kitchen, a parlour, a master suite with a walk-in-closet, a large master bedroom, an additional bedroom and a library.
* The garden held a 32-feet tall tree until 2015.