The story of Durgerdammerdijk 73

Durgerdam wasn't officially founded, it just became. That happened after the Saint Elizabeth flood, a major flooding disaster in the year 1421. A new dyke was built on the site where a hamlet called IJdoorn had been washed away. Houses were then built on the dyke and the village Doornickerdam was born. Over time, the name was modified to Durgerdam. The Saint Elizabeth flood was not the only disaster that struck the village. There is no house in Durgerdam that dates before 1687 because of a heavy fire that literally reduced the entire village to ashes.  

This historic building, a National Monument, needed a lot of care and attention. To ensure that the building was disassembled as carefully as possible, we surrounded the whole structure with scaffolding and then wrapped it in protective foil.  Each shelf and each stone was then assessed for suitability and then numbered for reuse.  

In the subsequent, thorough restoration, the monumental building was constructed to withstand the next 500 years. Inside and out, the building's charm and authenticity were also faithfully restored to create De Durgerdam. There are four guest rooms on the first and second floors and the ground floor is taken up mainly by the restaurant and the reception. The open kitchen in the restaurant creates a pleasant dynamic and there is a magnificent view of the IJmeer lake both from inside and outside on the terrace. In the basement there is reading room to relax in peace,a private dining area and a wine cellar. The surrounding property has been changed from a courtyard into a truly green garden that gives a boost to local biodiversity and in the outbuilding, following a major renovation, another ten more guest rooms were created. 

By taking control of the business, Aedes can place sustainability at the heart of a high-end hospitality concept in our very own way. Part of this is the zero-waste philosophy for the entire operation. In practice, this comes down to rejecting everything that does not produce recyclable waste, reducing unnecessary use of resources and products, the structural reuse and recycling of as much as possible, and repairing things rather than replacing them.  

This process began with the very first demolition and reconstruction work when we used all the resources available in order to limit and compensate for CO2 emissions. And this continues with, among other things, heat pumps for the heating and cooling of the hotel, solar panels and a completely gas-free heat supply. But we also apply this sustainability mindset to smaller details such as the choice of how the furniture and upholstery is produced.