‘My house is a very, very fine house. I’ll light the Fire and put the Flowers, that I bought Today, in a Vase’ by Cosby Stills Nash and Young a wonderful song. The former house of Gust van Dijk in Tilburg centre, which is overlooking Tivolipark, is a welcoming and warm place where you will enjoy a comfortable stay.

Our House is quite a personality, located in the city centre of Tilburg. This post is written by B&B Tilburg Gust van Dijk, just to show you a few highlights of our place and tell you a bit more about its history.

Gust van Dijk’s place was a former tobacco wholesaler’s home. The house was built in the 1930s and recently it was completely renovated. Many authentic details from the art deco era have been lovingly restored. And much time was spent on refining the quality of the light that enters the home. The function of Gust van Dijk has changed. It is turned from Home to Tobacco into Home to Contemporary Art. You can enjoy hospitality in a charming atmosphere.

On the ground floor, there is a project space/exhibition space, a collaborative workspace where artists produce and show newly made artworks. The two upper floors are exclusively reserved for guests, with a lounge, library, and breakfast room. There are three guest rooms with private bathrooms. The garden, at it’s best in the Summer, is lush and designed with an eye for space and colour.

At “Home to Contemporary Art” you enjoy generous hospitality, meet within an art & design setting, and enjoy the quality of life in general. So besides other interesting things happening in our home in addition, we also welcome guests in a small scale Bed and Breakfast with three rooms: Bed & Breakfast Tilburg Gust van Dijk.

The location of the home of Gust van Dijk, on the Bosscheweg, was well chosen. The Mayor of Tilburg, at that time lived next door and for example, just around the corner, the new Elizabeth hospital was built. The hospital boasted one of the first radiologic states of the art research centers in the Netherlands.

Opposite Gust van Dijk was the stately ‘Villa Tivoli’ set in a lush green garden. The villa was build approximately in 1840 and their owners were the Swagemakers-de Horion de Corby family. The Swagemakers belonged to the merchant Tilburg upper class. The Villa was surrounded by a large park-like garden and the open-air parties were also attended by King Willem II. Concerts and theatre performances took place in the lush garden of Villa Tivoli.  Between 1928 – 1963 Villa Tivoli became the main building for the Tilburg School of Economics. Now known as the University of Tilburg (UvT). Villa Tivoli was demolished in 1965.

Gust’s van Dijk’s home address was ‘Bosscheweg 421’, The name of the street only changed in the 1970ties in Tivolistraat after the stately Villa Tivoli was demolished in the 1965’s. A new building for insurance company Interpolis, designed by Bonnema architects rose in 1996 in its place. And a new Tivoli Park was designed in 1997 by Cyrus B. Clark from West & Landscape Architects, The park is open to the public from 6.30 to 19.00 hrs.

Gust van Dijk first led a wholesale shop in tobacco at the Heuvel, in the city centre of Tilburg. In addition to being a clever businessman, Gustav van Dijk loved theatre and the good life, with a fine cigar and a good glass of wine. So it was that in 1936 he commissioned local architect Frans Ruts to design and build a ‘state of the art’ shophouse on the main road from Tilburg Centre to ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

Since 1937 on this spot, Gust van Dijk (1884–1977) had a flourishing shop with a wide assortment of fine wines and good tobacco. His son Kees (1913–1996) continued the business until the late 1990s.

Well-known Tilburg architect Frans Ruts (1897-1978), is at his time, influenced by the Amsterdam School in his early careers. Ruts became famous for the striking combination of light and space in his designs. This impressed Gust van Dijk so much that Gust therefor asked Ruts in 1936, to design his new shop and home which he wanted to build next to the town’s Mayor’s residence.

In 2010 the building is redesigned as a 4-star luxury Bed and Breakfast. Gust van Dijk’s home became “Bed and Breakfast Tilburg” and his house is renamed with an international flair as “Home to Contemporary Art“. The building is been thoroughly renovated. The characteristics and authentic elements of the house and its architecture were maintained. So the house is true to its origin, with moderne comfort but still living up to its own characteristics, with steep stairs in between floors, originally featured tiling, beautiful daylight flooded rooms, and being a shophouse by nature.