Laundry & ironing service in Zevenhuizen

Zevenhuizen owes its name to a literal number. In the twelfth century there stood — probably on the western bank of the Rotte — seven small houses. At that time the entire area between Delft and Gouda was a barely habitable swamp, accessible only through natural waterways. From the eleventh century onwards reclamation began: residents dug ditches, made the land workable and built the first farms.

When the peat compacted and water began to return, mills became essential. In 1479 and 1480 the Hoogheemraadschap Schieland gave permission to build two watermills near Zevenhuizen. But the major step came in 1722: the Molenviergang was built, a row of four mills north of Zevenhuizen that together drained the Tweemanspolder. The photo above shows that Molenviergang — four large hollow-post mills in a neat row, a unique piece of Dutch water-management heritage. Until 1 June 1952 those mills pumped the polder dry; after that an electric pumping station took over.

Until 2010 Zevenhuizen was an independent municipality; then it merged with Moerkapelle, Moordrecht and Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel into the municipality of Zuidplas. The village has stayed small — stretched along the Dorpsstraat and the Rotte, with new neighbourhoods behind. The Rottemeren, the lake area just outside the village, is today one of the main recreation areas for Rotterdam residents and people from the surrounding towns.

Anyone living in Zevenhuizen has the Rotte at their door and the bustle of the city kept at a distance. But the week is no less full. We run a set pickup day through the village and along the polder roads. Your laundry bag goes along in the morning, and comes back in the evening clean, ironed and folded with the same driver. No detours; just the job done — the way the Molenviergang did with the water for centuries.