Lease agreement with MKB Fonds extended until 2030
The Lissone Foundation, the owner of Wester-Amstel, and its tenant, MKB Fonds, have agreed to extend the existing lease for Wester-Amstel by five years. This extension will allow us to keep Wester-Amstel open to the public in the coming years. In several respects, MKB Fonds has proven to be a worthy successor to the former leaseholder, Groengebied Amstelland.We are happy with them and hope you are too!
Charging stations for our 17th century country estate
The third energy transition is coming along nicely at Wester-Amstel. Last time, we reported on the switch from peat to coal to natural gas to electricity. This time, it's about the road leading us from horsepower to gasoline to electricity. In other words, the vehicle fleet. To support this move, we now have four electric charging stations in the backyard.
The charging stations are primarily intended for the employees and visitors of our tenant, MKB Fonds. But other visitors can also charge their cars here, provided they have a regular charging pass. The maximum charging capacity is now capped at 7.4 KwH. In a few months the main connection of Wester-Amstel will be upgraded, increasing the capacity to 22KwH. This will allow for efficient distribution when multiple cars are charging simultaneously.
The choice for these charging stations was based on both technical requirements and aesthetics. The stations are modest in size, placed in line with the beech hedges, and finished in canal green. They blend neatly into the historical ensemble of Wester-Amstel. Come and see for yourself.
Feet in the mud
Last January, Zeldenrijk Groenvoorziening dredged the north ditch, aka the dividing ditch between us and the neighbours at House #56. For practical reasons, part of the orchard avenue was used as a dredging depot, temporarily making it inaccessible for walkers.
The idea was that after a few months the dredged material would have dried sufficiently, allowing for it to be easily shoveled and wheelbarrowed away. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen due to the persistent rainfall. This made the expression, ‘feet in the mud’, very literal for our park volunteers.
Nevertheless, they set out to work. The result? They discovered as many types of mud as the Inuit have words for snow. The dredged material, in its many forms, found new homes across the estate. Fertile leaf soil ended up in the orchard. Chunky river clay was saved for dams and levees. A low plot of land near the kitchen garden was raised with "good dredge”. And every other type of mud was used to elevate a low piece of forest land.
We didn’t have reasons to expect finding archaeological artifacts. This expectation manifested itself through our "best" discovery:a flawless plastic soap dish, presumably from our former neighbours, the Olij family.
Annual Report 2023
By the time you read this article, our 2023 Annual Report will be nearing finalisation by our board. They meet on 2 June and we expect no major surprises between the writing of this piece and the board meeting. Therefore we dare to tempt you with the extremely tempting opening line, "The year 2023 was a year full of life, from beginning to end.” You can find the approved annual report at this link.
‘NextGen’
In today’s private country estate world, people talk about "NextGen" rather than "the next generation”. We are not sure how and why this language is used. We can, however, note with satisfaction that Wester-Amstel is also participating in these 'NextGen' moments. Maartje van Tilburg has been appointed to the board of the J.Ph.J.F. Lissone Foundation, owner of Wester-Amstel.
Maartje is the great-granddaughter of founder Ludvig Emil Movig, and great-great-granddaughter of namesake Jacques Ph.J.F.Lissone. She joins the board as successor to her mother, Rijkje Cornelia Movig, who passed away last year.
By: Søren Ludvig Movig