Rietveld Schroder House

The Rietveld Schroder House stands at the end of a row of brick terraced houses on the edge of Utrecht, and it looks as if it had landed there from another planet. It was designed by the architect and furniture designer Gerrit Rietveld in 1924 for Truus Schroder-Schrader, a widow with three children, who wanted a home in which she could live differently from the conventions of the time. Rietveld and Schroder worked on it together, and the result is one of the pure masterpieces of the Dutch movement known as De Stijl, which sought to reduce art and design to straight lines, flat planes and primary colours. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2000, one of the few buildings of the twentieth century to be given that status in its creator's lifetime and shortly after.

From the outside the house is a composition of white and grey planes, with black frames and touches of red, yellow and blue, in which walls, balconies and roofs seem to float independently of one another. There is no conventional corner. At the corners the windows open outwards, so that the walls dissolve and the room seems to extend into the air. The structure looks light and the shapes interlock, as in a three-dimensional painting by Mondrian, a comparison that is often made.

The interior is as radical. The ground floor is conventional enough, with a studio, a kitchen and rooms, but the upper floor was designed as a single open space which can be divided using sliding and turning partitions. By moving the panels, Schroder could turn one large room into several smaller ones for sleeping, working or playing, and then open it up again. The house was fitted with built-in furniture, simple fittings, and lights and cupboards designed to save space, and every detail was thought through. Schroder lived here until her death in 1985, and for a time Rietveld himself lived and worked on the ground floor. The house was restored and opened as a museum.

Visits are by reservation only, in small groups, because the house is delicate and the rooms are small. Timed tickets must be booked in advance, and visitors usually arrive a few minutes early at the ticket office near the house. Access is limited, and the stairs are steep, so it is not suitable for everyone. Opening times vary, so check before booking.

The house suits architecture and design enthusiasts, students and anyone curious about modern art. A visit takes about an hour. The Centraal Museum, which runs the house, has a Rietveld collection in the city centre.