Saint Hubertus hunting lodge

The hunting lodge has to serve as a representative country residence, suitable for receiving business associates and other guests. Berlage designs his building in a style reminiscent of English country houses, specifically due to the concatenated roofs and massive forms. He does use his familiar Dutch brick and he adds a tower, a well-known Berlage theme. In the initial phase of construction there is no mention of the name St Hubertus. Most of the early drawings refer only to ‘hunting lodge’ or Hoenderloo country house’.

It is Helene who asks Berlage to elaborate the theme of the Hubertus legend in his design. In this story, the young nobleman Hubertus takes aim at a large stag while hunting. When the stag turns toward him he sees an illuminated crucifix in its antlers, upon which he spares the stag and permanently converts to Christianity. For Helene, the story has a deeper meaning, namely that ‘passion must be overcome and wisdom and prudence prevail’. An explanation that fits with her later motto ‘Spiritus et Materia Unum’, spirit and matter are one. Berlage adds two elongated wings to the building and makes the tower taller and more robust. On the large drawing it is apparent how the two wings and the tower together might represent the form of antlers with a crucifix.

The marshy area De Veentjes, on the northern edge of the estate, seems to be the perfect location, mainly due to the water there. Even without a detailed building plan, work begins on the construction of a pond and a brick bridge. But the Kröllers are undecided and have the plan of the house executed in wood in two locations. After acquiring a new piece of land, the location for the hunting lodge shifts in a northerly direction. There, a second (larger) pond is dug that connects with the first one. The construction finally begins in 1916.

Berlage’s design includes not only the country residence, but also the surrounding gardens and adjacent ponds. Berlage strives for unity above all and maintains control over the design, colour scheme and material of every component of the building. In both the interior and exterior, he allows the brick to dominate. Even the ceilings are composed of a mosaic of glazed bricks, executed in two colours per room. He also designs the furniture, the floor tiles, the lamps and utensils, such as the cutlery. Immediately next to the hunting lodge, Berlage designs a service building with a workshop, garage, stables and living quarters for staff.

In 1917, Berlage proposes designing a monogram to decorate the courtyard. Helene prefers to give this commission to Joseph Mendes da Costa, from whom she already has many small sculptures. ‘In this way the whole house is somewhat interwoven with the sentiment: in the cross in the tower, in the windows in the billiard room, of the linear symbolism of Berlage […] and in the courtyard, the Mendes sentiment’. Berlage is not enamoured with Helene’s decision. After all, he wants to make a total work of art, and there is no room in that for the vision and style of another artist, certainly not in such a prominent location as the entrance to his masterpiece.

Helene finds Berlage’s design ‘very beautiful’, but still has ‘a few small things’ that she would like to see changed. The architect often has to deviate from his own ideals, which does not benefit their mutual relationship. In 1918, Helene visits the construction site, when the foundations have just been laid, and discovers that her sitting room does not offer a view of the pond. Therefore, she asks Berlage to make an extension, even if that means a serious breach in the symmetry of the plan. He has to adjust his design twice, but Helene is still not satisfied. Then, Berlage has had enough. He submits his resignation on 1 September 1919.

After Berlage’s departure, the house is furnished and made suitable for habitation. Nevertheless, the Kröllers usually stay in the smaller, simpler Klaverblad. ‘I always think of and compare with our house in Harskamp, […] as cosy as it is there, so outdoors, so ordinary, so just as we want it.’ Helene does show great respect for this ‘distinctively austere Berlage building with many beautiful things, but also with its faults’. She writes: ‘Whoever lives there will have to adapt to it, accept its abundance of stone and narrow corridors, but it is certainly a work of art, that is undeniable’.