A landhuis (Dutch for "mansion, manor", plural landhuizen; Indonesian: rumah kongsi; Papiamento: kas di shon or kas grandi) is a Dutch colonial country house, often the administrative heart of a particuliere land or private domain in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. Many country houses were built by the Dutch in other colonial settlements, such as Galle, Cape Town and Curaçao, but none as extensively or elaborately as in the Residency of Batavia (an area that includes parts of modern-day Jakarta, West Java and Banten provinces). Much of Batavia's reputation as "Queen of the East" rested on the grandeur of these 18th-century mansions. They were conceived as replicas of the Dutch architecture. Later, designs included features from Javanese vernacular architecture, partly in response to the tropical climate. The result, a fusion of Western and Javanese architecture, became known later as the 'Indies Style' from the Dutch East Indies. The Indies Style is the first form of a fusion of Dutch and local architecture which gave rise to the subsequent style of early Dutch Rationalist architecture in Indonesia. Despite its heritage and protected status, many of the Indies' country houses were left to deteriorate or were demolished, often due to lack of maintenance. Many of these houses were within the complex owned by the National Police. Many were transformed into dormitories with improper preservation. History In 17th century Netherlands, the increasing importance of Holland as a major maritime nation with a growing commercial empire, particularly in the East, had generated capital for the merchant classes of Amsterdam. These increasingly wealthy merchants began to invest their profits in second residences outside Amsterdam. This second residence, or landhuizen, ranged from modest rural retreats to luxurious manor houses, and were typically seated along the rivers Amstel and Vecht. In Batavia, a similar trend occurred in the middle 18th century. When Batavia grew increasingly unhealthy during the 18th century, wealthy Dutch East India Company officials were the first to flee and build grand houses in the surrounding countryside, typically situated between the rivers and roads that led into Batavia. The officials of the Dutch East India Company built country houses outside the walled city Batavia when the Ommelanden (the hinterland that lay immediately beyond the walled city) had been pacified and kept free from attacks by Javanese insurgents, who were trying to evict the Dutch occupiers. This was achieved by establishing a circular line of