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Villa Henny

Villa Henny on Scheveningseweg in The Hague was designed by H.P. Berlage in 1898 for Carel Henny, director of the insurance company De Nederlanden van 1845. The villa is considered an important turning point in the development of modern Dutch residential architecture.

Berlage rejected the conventional nineteenth-century villa and developed a house in which space, construction and use were organised according to a clear geometric system. The floor plan is based on a grid of squares and diagonals, with rooms arranged around a central hall. This creates a dynamic spatial sequence while maintaining a strong sense of order.

The exterior also departs from traditional villa architecture. Dark brick, expressive masonry, natural stone details and the distinctive tiled roof give the building a strong and recognisable character. Materials and construction are deliberately expressed rather than concealed.

Berlage designed parts of the interior and furniture as well, turning the house into a Gesamtkunstwerk. Architecture, interior, furniture and use were conceived as interconnected elements of a single design.

Villa Henny is therefore considered one of the key works of Berlage’s early career. It demonstrates his move away from historicist architecture towards a rational approach based on geometry, honest materials, structural clarity and spatial organisation.

The villa remains an important reference point in the history of Dutch architecture and an early indication of the modernist principles that Berlage would develop throughout his later career.