The centre of Alblasserdam has few historical buildings. That is because Alblasserdam was hit by bombing in May 1940 and in January 1945. The De Rijkee mansion, built in 1841, withstood these attacks. The Rijkee family became co-owners of the Heerlijkheid Alblasserdam in 1823. Cornelis Rijkee commissioned the building of this house in 1841.
The house remained in the family until the death of the last craftsman (Adrie Rijkee 1907-1988). Later, it was bought by the municipality through an heir so that it could be restored and function as a wedding venue. The municipality could not raise enough money to complete this, after which the Craftsman's House De Rijkee actually stood idle.
This led to the Hendrick de Keyser Association coming to the rescue in 2006, but the new owner almost choked on the restoration: it turned out to be much more expensive than expected.
Please note that the house is only open when there is an exhibition!
