Huis met de Kabouters, Amsterdam

Huis met de Kabouters is a residential building whose name comes from the gnome figures decorating its façade. Designed by A.C. Boerma, it dates from 1884 and combines Gothic Revival, Renaissance Revival and chalet-style details.

The brick façade is enlivened with limestone bands, projecting wooden bay windows and abundant carving; cherubs and eagles join the gnomes in the ornament. At the roofline, two gnomes about 3 metres tall toss a ball between them. As local legend has it, the ball secretly travels from one figure to the other, although the supposed occasion varies: midnight, New Year’s Eve, or 29 February in a leap year.

Their meaning remains unknown. The building brings together three houses, with twelve apartments inside, and it became a national monument in 1984.