A six-bedroom, five-bath house that is a “work of art you can live in.”
$4.15 MILLION (3.95 MILLION EUROS)
Designed by the Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat, whose projects include museums, government buildings and residential towers around the world, this six-bedroom, five-bath house is just east of central Rotterdam, the Netherlands’ second-largest city.
“The house is a work of art you can live in,” said Leslie D.T. de Ruiter, managing partner of R365|Christie’s International Real Estate in Rotterdam, the listing agent. “It’s very unusual for an architect this famous to build a private home. It’s like hiring a three-star Michelin chef to prepare a meal.”
Known for surreal flourishes, Mr. van Egeraat topped the 5,306-square-foot home with an undulating, thatched roof whose supporting beams protrude “like eyelashes coming from the house,” Mr. de Ruiter said. He also designed the rooms with different ceiling heights and window shapes, prompting the owner to have furniture custom-made to suit the dimensions. While the sale doesn’t include those furnishings, “the owner could discuss it,” Mr. de Ruiter said.
RE/MAX real estate agency in Rotterdam.
Rabobank. “People could borrow more and buy more,” she said. As a result, “about 80 percent of homes sold above their asking price last year.”
Now, as interest rates soar and the war in Ukraine strains the Dutch economy, the market has begun to cool — a bit. “In January 2022, house price growth was 21.1 percent year over year. In March, it declined to 19.5 percent. So it’s a bit less overheated, but still far from normal,” Ms. de Groot said.
In central Rotterdam, where apartments make up more than 90 percent of the housing stock, “you would see 70 or 80 people lined up to see basic apartments listed for 300,000 euros,” said Ploni F. Bouman-de Wolf, owner of the Bouman Makelaardij agency in Rotterdam. “There are simply too many buyers for too few homes.”
Rising bank rates have not tamped demand, she added: “Buyers are just changing their searches, so more of them are competing for lower-priced homes.”
Rotterdam is bisected by the Maas river. Neighborhoods north of the river, including Kralingen, Hillegersberg and Schiebroek, are typically more prosperous. But the housing shortage has spurred significant development on the south side, “which has been known as a working-class district,” Ms. Bouman-de Wolf said. Along with conversions of terraced homes to multifamily dwellings, “modern buildings are going up,” she said, promising further transformation of the area’s character.