During the growth period of the mines, there is a need for good housing for the miners. The mine management wants to have the personnel within reach, so that in case of an emergency the personnel is immediately on site.
This concentration also strengthens the social control of the church. For this, the workers are given spacious accommodation with a vegetable garden for their own use. The 'Garden Village', a concept from the United Kingdom, serves as an example.
Entirely in the style of the time, light, air and space for the workers are considered. Something that the miners lack in the heavy underground work. In Hopel's case, a so-called 'Techniker' from Germany, Mr Albert Reichpietsch, also referred to as 'Maurer' or 'Architekt', is recruited for this purpose.
Between 1906 and 1910, based on one of his many designs, eleven houses were built in a sober Jugendstil. The other houses of the total forty-seven houses will be copied on the basis of these eleven.
He designs even more plans, which are more detailed, but which are not carried out. In the design of De Hopel, also known as the 'White Colony', an open courtyard was central, with the houses grouped around it.
The entire village consisted of only four streets: Kanariestraat, Lijsterstraat, Meesstraat and Merelstraat and two crosswise connecting streets. The current forty-six houses are characterized by their uniformity to the outside, although there are about eleven different versions.
The appearance is fresh: red Tuile du Nord roof tiles with dark green fascia and here and there a wooden cross connection. In addition to the pointed gables, there are also bell gables. As decoration on the roofs a pylon or pirankel, a spherical tower that also occurs elsewhere, such as in Beersdal.
All houses are painted white, the 50 to 100 centimeters high skirting boards are cemented and covered with black tar, creating a strong contrast. Another fun fact: the Dutch drama film 'Antonia' (1995) starring Willeke van Ammelrooy, was partly shot here.
