1724 | A major renovation

The building acquired its present appearance in 1724. Inspired by the house of his brother Cornelis at 7 Lange Vijverberg (the current residence of the German ambassador), Johan van Schuylenburch had his home rebuilt in the style of Daniel Marot. An extra floor was added on, and the seventeenth-century façade was crowned with a sizeable cornice, balustrade and escutcheon. A balcony was put in above the entrance. Two small garden wings were added to the rear of the building, creating a courtyard.

In keeping with eighteenth-century tastes in design, alterations were also made to the interior of the house. The staircase is now located at the back of the hall, in the axis of the entrance. The hall and the staircase divide the house on all floors into two equal parts, each one consisting of a front and a back room, and on three of the levels, a small office.

Johan van Schuylenburch had the complete interior redecorated in late Louis XIV style, which has been beautifully preserved to this day. The ornate stucco work was done by Italian plasterers from the Como region. The marble chimney breasts in the two front rooms on the ground floor are decorated with bas-reliefs by Jan Claudius de Cock. They came from Van Schuylenburg’s art collection and depict scenes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.