Van Dillen Antique Building Materials

Van Dillen antique building materials has been officially established since early 2020 and is therefore still relatively young, especially compared to other companies in the industry. Nevertheless, we do not fall behind and are growing incredibly fast. By working a lot, hard, and especially honestly, our stock and customer base are growing by the day! We are a trading company primarily dealing in antique building materials, which we purchase in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Poland, and Hungary. The materials (mostly old facade bricks and antique floor tiles) come from old farms, monasteries, houses, and even castles! Once we receive these materials at our company, we remove the (lime) cement that is still attached to them, and we carry out all other processes to make these materials as beautiful as possible and fully ready for reuse. We then offer our materials neatly stacked and can always arrange for quick and relatively inexpensive transport. Currently, we do not have a beautiful, large showroom where our materials are displayed; we mostly have the materials in the same place where they are processed. However, this does not mean that you are not welcome. Nevertheless, we do our best to have the materials ready for you in as beautiful and organized a manner as possible. When you visit us, you step right into the work process. The materials are cleaned, stacked, and sorted here, and all the work takes place at the same location as our storage. However, if we are to believe our previous customers, this is also a nice and interesting way to admire the materials. In addition to our work/storage location in Bolsward, we have depots in Pingjum, Belgium, Poland, Strijen, Waspik, Zeeland, and Groningen; however, viewings are always in Bolsward, where all types of materials can be viewed. We are a young company with a young owner; founder and current owner Jesse van Dillen is only 24 years old (20 at the time of founding), which often raises the question of ‘how such a young man comes up with the idea of establishing himself in this industry.’ The story is worth telling; “It all started when my grandfather passed away in 2018. My grandparents lived on a large farm near Bolsward. It is a beautiful farm that used to be a castle, ‘the Waltaslot.’ They completely renovated it themselves; it was and is truly their farm, and we always gathered here for many family celebrations. Grandma naturally wanted to continue living there, and we wanted that too. The farm has a huge garden that logically requires a lot of maintenance, which they always took care of together. When grandpa passed away, I took on the maintenance together with my uncle Jan and grandma. I mowed the lawn weekly and did other small jobs. One day, the path in front of the farm came up for discussion, a path made of old yellow bricks, which grandma, despite finding it very beautiful, wanted to remove due to the weeds that she found difficult to remove herself. Since I had once worked in paving as a side job, I offered to lay a gravel path with a weed barrier underneath; it also looks nice at a farm and is a bit more maintenance-friendly, which she liked. So said, so done, the gravel path was laid, and the bricks were left in a large pile. Grandma asked me if I could also dispose of these bricks for her. I thought I had heard somewhere that these bricks still had value and decided to offer them on Marktplaats. I eventually sold them for a nice amount at the time, and the rest is history.” The core team consists of Jesse (owner/contact person), Marcel, Jilali, Arno, Benjamin, and Menno. Also, ‘dad’ van Dillen (in the photo below with Jesse) is often present and primarily supports Jesse with transport and viewing activities. Brother Heero (from Dillen paving) and his employee Robin also regularly help out at the company when they are unable to carry out their own work. Additionally, we have various demolition workers, contractors, pavers, and other craftsmen around us to assist with our work. Various freelancers often work with us at the workshop in Bolsward. Sil Veltman, a friend of Jesse and the creator of this website, has also become indispensable with his great commitment and pleasant working style. For his contact details, you can email/call! Thank you for being part of our team; without you, there is no ‘us’!