Tucked into a small pocket in Amsterdam’s city center, the historic house at Oudezijds Voorburgwal 249 is a favorite among tourists and photographers. The building is a showstopper, with majestic step-gabled facades and an enviable location at the intersection of three canals where Amsterdam’s original defense walls once protected against invaders centuries ago.
But as of October 7, the building has a new moniker that virtually guarantees it new fame, especially among aviation enthusiasts like me: KLM Huisje 105 (House 105). It’s the latest addition to a coveted collection of hand-painted Delftware miniatures inspired by real-life Dutch landmarks (and filled with a type of Dutch liquor called jenever), which are presented to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines passengers in intercontinental business cabins. These inches-high souvenirs are arguably commercial aviation’s most sought-after mementos.
Every year, KLM releases the newest replica as the grand finale of its October 7 birthday bash, an invite-only, VIP-studded affair attended by its execs, top corporate customers, and aviation journalists (which is how I scored entry). Not unlike Apple fans who clamor for the latest iPhone as soon as it drops, this avgeek crowd holds a certain pride in being among the first to get their hands on the newest house (KLM also says it sees a bump in business class bookings in the days following the release).
The anticipation is fueled by the fact that KLM keeps the identity of the new house a closely guarded secret until its unveiling. This year, as the audience cheered, airline president and CEO Marjan Rintel presented the first Huisje 105 to Arthur van Dijk, the King’s Commissioner in the North Holland province.
After the event wrapped, an al fresco afterparty of sorts popped up several blocks away at—where else?—House 105 itself. Illuminated from within in glowing KLM blue, it offered the perfect backdrop as KLM flight attendants and Rintel posed for photos while Dutch music blared from a cargo bike parked at the curb.
Small houses, big on history
These houses first appeared on KLM flights in 1952, and their origin story reflects a clever workaround of commercial aviation industry regulations that prohibited airlines from providing gifts to passengers. However, offering drinks was fair game, and so an idea took shape: to serve a drink in a small replica Dutch house, effectively creating a unique cocktail vessel. The concept was allowed, and the miniature house mania took off. Many Dutch celebrities and royalty count themselves as proud collectors—including Netherlands King Willem-Alexander, who occasionally moonlights as a KLM pilot.
“The houses are the smallest status symbol in the Netherlands,” says Mark Zegeling, whose self-published book Little Kingdom by the Sea: A Celebration of Dutch Cultural Heritage details the history of the real buildings behind each KLM house. “There’s not only a craziness about them in the Netherlands, but also abroad. These houses are good ambassadors of the beautiful side of my country, and Dutch heritage.”
Zegeling has become something of a global authority on the KLM miniatures, and he maintains an index of their estimated value, based on input from collectors and traders and other factors (he expects to release the newest index soon). “The collectors’ value always has an emotional component,” Zegeling told me a few days before this year’s unveiling. “People get a house or a special edition related to something which they remember, a special flight or a special occasion.”
Prices can range from about $30 to more than ten thousand dollars for certain limited or special editions—but, if you fly KLM business class on an intercontinental route, you’ll get a house for free. (As a freelance journalist, I don’t have the funds for those tickets, so my trio of houses—all of which I’ve been gifted at KLM events—pales in comparison to superfans’ dozens-strong collections.) KLM has even created its own app to make collecting easier.
For many enthusiasts, the real appeal of the miniatures is the backstory of the buildings they portray. On a pre-event canal boat tour through Amsterdam with media and KLM execs, Zegeling pointed out various KLM houses and fascinating details that gave me newfound appreciation for the city where I currently live. Atop one canal house built in 1672 (House #83, Museum Van Loon), four statues of Roman gods symbolize how the country was involved in four separate wars at that time. Meanwhile, House #68 at Prinsengracht 969 is now a charming B&B. But in centuries past, the city’s poor sewage system caused such a stench on the canal out front that it prompted a German tourist in 1838 to describe Amsterdam as “a beautiful maiden with foul breath.” After reading Zegeling’s book, I also learned that one of my favorite bars, De Drie Fleschjes, Amsterdam’s oldest tasting room dating to 1619, is also KLM house #80, and one I really want to add to my collection.
The history of KLM’s newest house miniature
Like its predecessors, the House on the Three Canals offers a (mini) master class on Dutch history and architecture. Its original structure was a wooden house gifted by a soapmaker to a convent in 1407, according to Zegeling’s research. It burned down in a fire in 1425 and was rebuilt by nuns; the building was later demolished and in 1610 rebuilt in stone as two houses in the prominent Dutch Renaissance style of the time.
Since then, House 105 has been the site of a publishing business, a bookstore, and even a hiding place during World War II. A hatch leading to a secret room was recently discovered inside the property, adding to its intrigue.
How the KLM Delft houses are chosen
House 105 joins about 50 other miniatures modeled after buildings in Amsterdam, which will celebrate its 750th anniversary in 2025 (a year-long schedule of commemorative events kicks off on October 27, 2024). Among them are some of the city’s most beloved cultural landmarks: the Anne Frank House (#76), the Rembrandt House (#48), and the Heineken Brewery (#95). There are even walking tours around the city inspired by the houses.
Outside Amsterdam, many Dutch towns and provinces campaign for KLM to feature their own landmarks as miniatures, because it is such a tourism boost when a building is chosen. But certain criteria must be met in order for one to be considered: For example, the building must have an architectural component called a gable, says Frank Houben, a delegate to KLM’s board who is closely involved in the selection process. In addition, Houben explains, “it must be a Dutch house, and there must be some kind of a special story—historical story—behind the house.”
A shortlist of about three properties is eventually chosen, and the CEO makes the final selection. The production cycle kicks off in spring, and nearly one million houses are made in a factory in China before being shipped back to the Netherlands to be filled with Bols Genever (some are kept empty for KLM routes in countries that ban alcohol).
Maintaining the surprise is “very difficult,” Houben says, especially considering the number of people involved. “It’s always a big thing because people want to know, so they’re guessing all over the internet,” he says. “It’s very nice to see, but it’s always a secret, and every year we want to keep it a little bit mysterious.”
