History

In the Beginning…

Even before Christopher Columbus set sail for America, the house was occupied by a councillor of the city of Bruges and then porters and traders in Portuguese southern fruits, sugar and pepper. Bruges was then the Silicon Valley of the Western world. Amsterdam was still a village with barely a thousand inhabitants and New York had yet to spring up. Bruges saw the birth of both the stock exchange and the lotto in the same period.

When America was a European province, this house successively housed a magister, canons of Saint Donaas, master builders and sculptors, and the architect of the bridge over the Minnewater… Still later, coachmen, wheelwrights, a blacksmith’s shop and hop merchants worked here.

From decay to restoration

In the mid-1960s, my parents bought the now-dilapidated house. Bruges’ old city centre was emptying at the time and the canals were lifeless, stinking open sewers. I was born in De Zomere along with my two brothers. Katherine, Jan, Frederik, Erasmus and Johannes were now the new residents and when it rained, the water ran down the walls inside. We all worked a lot in and on it: the house demanded a lot and gave back. It was always dominant in our lives.

The exterior was thoroughly restored in the 1980s. Countless tourists took countless photographs as a result. Inside, it remained simple, almost Spartan, with, above all, an eye for beauty. The house became a meeting place for writers, poets, musicians, painters, sculptors, typesetters and calligraphers.

A new beginning

The children flew out and our parents passed away. The house needed a new purpose. I accepted the challenge and would attempt, in turn, to bring the inside of De Zomere into the 21st century. And give it a new purpose, something it never was before. I wanted to give more people access to the unique heritage that De Zomere is now.

The house is back to being my house and home. And there are 5 guest rooms, each named after the residents of my childhood: De Zomere became De Zomere B&B.

I renovated it myself over several years – as a kind of re-enactment of my own childhood – taking care to cherish with love and respect all that was left behind over the past centuries.

The Zomere B&B exudes something never before seen anywhere.

Welcome to De Zomere B&B
Host Frederik Broes