Huize Vredeoord on the Maliesingel

The Maliebaan station has existed for 150 years and the Railway Museum is celebrating this with an exhibition in the old station building. The Oosterspoorweg was constructed in 1874 through the gardens behind the Maliebaan and the gardens of Abstede. At that time, no houses had to be moved there. However, an access road had to be created from the Maliebrug to the station building: the Johan van Oldenbarneveltlaan. Before that, Huize Vredeoord of the noble widow Pauline Madelaine Ram-Duim was expropriated and demolished.

Jonkheer Isaac Arend Albert Ram (1792-1860), scion of a distinguished Utrecht family, had become ‘secretary of the city of Utrecht’ (municipality secretary) in 1816. He did not marry until 1839, with Pauline Madelaine Ram-Duim (1813-1900), twenty years his junior, born in Zutphen. They settled on the southern tip of the Maliebaan. In 1851, Ram bought an adjacent plot for 4,270 guilders: ‘Eene Warmoeziers-Hofstede and a Pleiziertuin in Utrecht under Abstede’. The childless couple had a new house built on that garden plot opposite the Maliebrug, which was named Vredeoord.

The stucco villa had, judging by the only known photo, one main floor and an attic and basement. The housekeeper and maids lived and worked there above and below. The villa had a large bay window at the front with French doors and a balustrade, with an unobstructed view of the canal and the Lepelenburg. An elongated extension was later added at the rear left. Behind the house was a huge garden with an oval pond, from which we can conclude that it was romantically laid out in the English landscape style.

Dowager

A newspaper wrote in 1860: ‘Utrecht, May 21. Yesterday evening, Mr. Jhr. suddenly passed away here. Mr. Isaac Arend Albert Ram, former secretary of the city of Utrecht. The deceased had reached the age of 66 and was generally respected and loved.’ His wife placed an advertisement from which we know the name of the villa: ‘Today the Well-Edel Born Lord IAA Ram, former Secretary of the city of Utrecht, beloved husband of PM Duim, Dowager Ram, died at the Huize Vredeoord.’ A dowager is the widow of a noble lord.

After Ram’s death, two of his brothers and a sister acted as administrators ‘on behalf of the aforementioned Lady Pauline Madelaine Duim’s estate encumbered with usufruct’. Pauline Madelaine would continue to live in Huize Vredeoord for more than ten years. She was not really alone, because she had a good relationship with the house staff. This is evident from an advertisement she had placed in the Utrecht provincial and urban newspaper: ‘Died today at the home of Mrs. Ram, born. Thumbs up, Maria Welmers, who has served me faithfully, honestly and lovingly for 18 years. October 24, 1868. Mrs. Ram, born Thumb.’ Such an obituary for a maid was not common!

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Demolition for station

A plan for the construction of the municipal hospital on the Ram family’s land on the Maliesingel was canceled in 1866. More than five years later, however, the villa would have to make way for the Oosterspoorweg. It did not seem that way when the first plans were made in 1870. The Hollandsche Iron Railway Company (HIJSM) wanted to lay the railway line over the eastern canal and the Zocherplantsoen, with a station on the Hieronymusplein next to the Lepelenburg. If that had continued, the dowager’s view would have been spoiled, but her house would have remained standing.

However, city residents protested against the planned route with petitions, objections and submitted documents. The city council was also against. The walking greenery would be lost and the sailing route would be blocked. Buys Ballot of the KNMI on the Zonnenburg stronghold was afraid of disruption to his measuring equipment. The prison director of Wolvenplein feared more escapes due to passing trains. Negotiations between HIJSM and the municipality led to a changed route, east of the Maliebaan. The station was located further from the city center, with the Maliebrug from the Lepelenburg as access.

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The Ram family’s land was partly expropriated, for which they received 104,000 guilders. A considerable amount, considering the construction costs of the station: 204,000 guilders. The station was located in the ‘backyard’, the access road straight through Huize Vredeoord. Shortly before the house was demolished, Pauline Madelaine moved with two maids and a house servant to the nearby house Maliebaan 27 in November 1872. A few years later, her cousin Willem de Famars Testas, who was a successful artist, moved in with her. In 1877 he painted a view of the backyard with his aunt in the conservatory. The houses on Hugo de Grootstraat and Johan de Wittstraat would not be built on the remaining land of the Ram family along the Maliesingel until around 1895.

On Sunday, May 19, Arjan den Boer will give a lecture in the Railway Museum about working and living around the Maliebaan station.