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1943 |
Restoration
 Mussert engaged G.A.C. Blok to restore the property and instructed him to return the building as much as possible to its original state while at the same time bringing it in line with the demands of a modern office.
Blok replaced the Empire windows with eighteenth-century reproductions with smaller panes, which restored the building’s original appearance. The early twentieth-century annex for the archive was demolished, and a French garden was laid in the space created between the wings.
 Inside, thick layers of paint were removed from the woodwork, revealing the fine carvings beneath. The bare oak was not repainted. Dalens’s wall canvases were moved from the front left room to the front right room. Paintings above the fireplaces and doors were either restored or redone. The installation of central heating meant that the nineteenth-century enclosed porches could be torn down, returning the grand staircase to its old style. The small staircase between the first floor and the attic was enlarged. The old wooden stairs to the basement were replaced by marble ones with a cast-iron balustrade. Modern sanitary facilities were added in the left section of the building.
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