Five Brothers and a War

Margrietstraat 20—Ground Floor

Coming back to the tour, the next room, adjacent to the kitchen, was the dining room, which had a large table in the center, on top of another rug. The entire left wall as one entered, overlooking the backyard, was glazed. Two French doors were flanked by two stationary panes. In the far corner was a pump organ that eventually had to be thrown out because it was eaten by wood worms. Jan was the only organ player, though for lively music, Kees and Bertus were the “pumpers”. Alongside the organ was a long buffet, and at the end was an armed leather reading chair, used exclusively by Leendert. In the corner was an angled fireplace that held the flue from the floor-mounted, coal-fired room heater.

Gracing the tabletop was a “rug”—which was in place when the table was not set for meals. At the time, tables were not supposed to be “bare” at any time. When a table was moved out of the French doors and onto the patio, it was immediately covered, as can be seen in the photo below.

van Pelt

Five Brothers and a War

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