Craftsmanship! About half-timbered houses and bakehouses.
Gulpen, Mechelen, Epen
The most beautiful half-timbered farmhouses are now used as hotels, hostels or restaurants. How convenient, since we can admire the buildings while enjoying a bite to eat and a drink! In Mechelen, there are still many houses, barns, stables and baking houses where the old half-timbering has been preserved. Many of these half-timbered buildings can be seen from the public road. Sometimes you are surprised to walk into a yard and see half-timbering. In other places, the half-timbering is present only in the interior. The construction, in which the skeleton is made of wood, stones, straw and loam, was the normal way of building houses in the Hill Country until 1850. Because the materials were available nearby, it was cheap and the Hill Country was generally a poor area. The vulnerable loamy areas of the outer walls were protected by a loam porridge that allowed water to drain better. The foundation on which the wooden beams were placed was usually made of boulders to prevent rotting. This underside was smeared with tar against splashing water. Later, silo paint was used for this purpose. The oldest form consisted of a collection of detached buildings, which were then also randomly placed in relation to each other. Extensions were made by building directly onto the house. However, when the number of business premises increased, it was economically most attractive to continue ‘around the corner’. This created an L-shape, later still, with further expansion a U-shape and eventually possibly even a square. The only little building that was outside this from the beginning was the baking oven or bakehouse, this because of the fire hazard. The bakery was used by the farmer's wife herself but also by the farmers' wives of the surrounding houses. One bakery thus served several households. Along the way, you come across several bakehouses, sometimes in pitiful condition but some are still well maintained and occasionally used to this day. The bakery of Herberg de Smidse and the Volmolen are good examples. After several major city fires, including in Aachen in 1656, timber-framed buildings were banned in many cities. However, in villages and hamlets where houses were not so close together, people continued to build in half-timbering. In Heerlijkheid Wittem, straw was banned as roofing material from 1735 onwards. Roof tiles replaced it. Almost all windows had shutters, the main purpose being insulation. The disadvantage of shutters for windows was that no more daylight entered. So people sat in the dark in the morning. To meet this objection, people therefore made a small opening in at least one of the shutters, often in the shape of a heart. Houses and farms were whitewashed both outside and inside. Outside, it gave protection for the mud compartments and inside, the whitewash gave a bright colour, was disinfecting and prevented mould. In general, whitewashing houses was an annual affair. After 1850, building with brick took on increasing proportions. After all, stone walls gave a more prominent appearance to the house. To create the illusion of owning a distinguished house, some owners even built a complete facade against the existing - timber-framed - facade. Until the last century, farmers built and maintained the white timber-framed houses themselves. Meanwhile, for more than a hundred years, timber-framed houses are no longer newly built, but fortunately still renovated. This Premium cycle route was compiled by our editor: Yvonne Vlaskamp.
| Directions | Distance | Total distance | |
|
Start: Landsraderweg , 6271 NT Gulpen-Wittem | 30.5 KM | |
|
From
85
to
86
|
1868 M | 1.9 KM | |
| Head northeast on Landsraderweg | 29 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Landsraderweg | 10 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Landsraderweg | 130 M | ||
| Turn right onto Burgemeester Teheuxweg | 543 M | ||
| Turn right onto Oude Akerweg | 342 M | ||
| Keep right onto Oude Akerweg | 814 M | ||
| You are now at section 86 | 0 M | ||
|
From
86
to
17
|
2067 M | 2.1 KM | |
| Head southeast on Hommerigerweg | 2.1 KM | ||
| You are now at section 17 | 0 M | ||
|
From
17
to
90
|
1282 M | 1.3 KM | |
| Head northeast on Hoofdstraat | 522 M | ||
| Turn right onto Commandeurstraat | 760 M | ||
| You are now at section 90 | 0 M | ||
|
From
90
to
16
|
2849 M | 2.8 KM | |
| Head south on Bommerigerweg | 1.8 KM | ||
| Make a slight left onto Camerig | 201 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Camerig | 187 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Camerig | 700 M | ||
| You are now at section 16 | 0 M | ||
|
From
16
to
92
|
4472 M | 4.5 KM | |
| Head south on Terzieterweg | 418 M | ||
| Turn right onto Diependalsweg | 947 M | ||
| Make a slight left onto Morgensweg | 721 M | ||
| Turn left onto Terzieterweg | 330 M | ||
| Turn right onto Kuttingerweg | 815 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto 't Veld | 597 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on 't Veld | 644 M | ||
| You are now at section 92 | 0 M | ||
|
From
92
to
427
|
3838 M | 3.8 KM | |
| Head west on Rue de Beusdael | 2.9 KM | ||
| Turn right onto Kasteelstraat | 525 M | ||
| Turn left onto Kasteelstraat | 408 M | ||
| You are now at section 427 | 0 M | ||
|
From
427
to
428
|
1796 M | 1.8 KM | |
| Head northwest on Sinnich | 794 M | ||
| Turn right onto Teuven-Dorp - Teuven-Village | 1 KM | ||
| You are now at section 428 | 0 M | ||
|
From
428
to
26
|
1231 M | 1.2 KM | |
| Head northeast on Nurop | 828 M | ||
| Continue onto Grensweg | 403 M | ||
| You are now at section 26 | 0 M | ||
|
From
26
to
84
|
1048 M | 1 KM | |
| Head west on Dorpsstraat | 86 M | ||
| Turn left onto Schilbergerweg | 962 M | ||
| You are now at section 84 | 0 M | ||
|
From
84
to
83
|
2738 M | 2.7 KM | |
| Head northeast on Maastrichterweg | 973 M | ||
| Turn left onto Hoogcruts | 118 M | ||
| Turn right onto Schilberg | 1.1 KM | ||
| Turn left onto Terlinden | 583 M | ||
| You are now at section 83 | 0 M | ||
|
From
83
to
22
|
3659 M | 3.7 KM | |
| Head northeast on Gulperstraat | 283 M | ||
| Turn left | 46 M | ||
| Turn right | 6 M | ||
| Continue straight | 14 M | ||
| Make a slight right | 2.3 KM | ||
| Make a slight right onto Oude Luikerweg | 726 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto Euverem | 305 M | ||
| You are now at section 22 | 0 M | ||
|
From
22
to
21
|
988 M | 1 KM | |
| Head southwest on Euverem | 177 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto Slenakerweg | 811 M | ||
| You are now at section 21 | 0 M | ||
|
From
21
to
20
|
2480 M | 2.5 KM | |
| Head southeast on Pesakerweg | 2.5 KM | ||
| You are now at section 20 | 0 M | ||
|
From
20
to
85
|
214 M | 0.2 KM | |
| Head northeast on Landsraderweg | 214 M | ||
| You are now at section 85 | 0 M |