This is the spacious bedroom of Albertus and Gesine Sonneveld, with a balcony on two sides. The colours in this room are distinctly unusual. Not many people these days would choose metallic brown walls and window frames in combination with silver doorposts and a grey floor covering. But the bronze-like brown is a deliberate choice. In the colour scheme developed for the house by the architect, Brown was the colour of the rooms used by the couple. Red, on the other hand, was for the staff. The grey floor covering wasn't the architect's first choice; he originally proposed linoleum, but then agreed to the more luxurious and comfortable wool carpet. Once again, all the furniture in this room was supplied by Gispen, though the dressing table was not part of the manufacturer's standard range. It was actually designed by the architect, Van der Vlugt. Unfortunately, the original one has been lost and the magnificent example you see here has been reconstructed from photographs. As you might expect, Mr Sonneveld wanted all the latest technology in his bedroom. So there are two telephones: one is connected to the internal system like most of the other rooms, and the other is an outside line. Two other things to look out for: in the cupboard next to the door leading to the landing, you'll see the safe and the key cabinet specially made by Gispen. The Sonnevelds liked to keep their valuables under lock and key. If you go back onto the landing, you'll see a little folding table on the wall to the left. This is where the maid left the early morning tray of tea rather than taking it into the bedroom.

If you'd like to know more about the telephones, press A.

A