Once upon a time, the village of Twisk was full of Zee’s. In 1832, Pieter Zee and Neeltje Veer came to live here. He was a farmer, she was taking up position as the midwife for the village. Together they had 12 children, one of whom was my great-grandfather Frederik Zee. He, and his brothers and sisters, mostly stayed living in Twisk.
Frederik lived in the east end of the village, known as the West End (of Opperdoes). In December 1875 he had bought a piece of land, with a house, from Klaas Laan. Klaas was known as the wealthiest farmer in Opperdoes. Armed with a map, we went to track down the house.
Amazingly, the house at Westeinde 8 is still there, and from the outside at least, looks much the same as it did when Frederik and his wife Maartje Bakker lived there. We also met up with our cousin Pieter Zee from Midwoud, who I had last seen when we visited local butcher and comedian Piet Zee in Twisk in 2022.
By a stroke of good fortune, Pieter was friends with the current owners (Yvette and Wim), so he quickly arranged a look inside for us.
The house is a classic Westfries Stolpboerderij, a rectangular shaped farmhouse with a pyramid roof. When these were in full use, the family and animals all lived under the one roof, and a huge amount of hay was stored inside for the winter months.
Despite renovations and layout changes inside, the original structure from 1850 remains in place, and visible throughout the house.
The roof is thatched, and in great condition. A new thatch is required every 25 years or so.
The original layout was changed several times, but this architectural drawing from 1990 shows the layout before renovations, likely quite similar to how it was in 1875. On one side are the “dars deuren”, the entrance to the farmhouse from the street where hay could be brought in.
Frederik Zee and Maartje Bakker left Twisk in 1895, passing on the house to Cornelis Zwaan, who bought it at an auction.
Our timing to visit was perfect, as across the street was the “Ot & Sien” fair. This was taking place at the garden centre of Paul Metselaar, a descendant of Klaas Laan – the man who sold the house and land to Frederik Zee in 1875. Twisk was unusually busy for the fair – normally a very quiet little Dutch village (and a very beautiful one).
In a museum at the back (of Westeinde 9), a wonderful museum shows a glimpse of farm life in the 1850’s. Several pictures of Klaas Laan were there.
So, in 2025, a small gathering of Zee’s returned to see the homeplace of Frederik Zee, 130 years after he had last lived in Twisk. To finish, here is a portrait of him made up for the 60th anniversary of the “Nut en Genoegen” society. The title on the picture says that he was the only founder of the society to be present at that gathering (and likely the only one still alive). Frederik Zee, born in Twisk, 26th of August 1845.
Thank you so very much for sharing this, it means a lot to me.I so wish I could make the trip. Grandpa (Paul) Zee always wanted to return to his home, he missed it a lot . Someday—-