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This capital villa in the picture no longer exists. A less substantial building now stands there. The villa was not killed by war, but how?

This former Villa Benvenuto had been built in 1912/1913 by Tjerk Eltjo Bontkes, married to the daughter Lucretia of Boelo Tijdens (the namesake of the BL. Tijdens Canal). After a year, Bontkes sold the villa to the municipality, which made it available to the then mayor, and then - until the 1950s - it became the official residence for the commander of the National Police. The state police was based in the military police building opposite. This building is still there. Villa Benvenuto was demolished in year 1958 - not because the building was ripe for demolition. The reason for demolition had to do with the very first owners: family Bontkes-Tijdens. In 1924, the Bontkes family had joined the NSB, and they were close friends with Rost van Tonningen. Towards the end of the 2nd World War, Bontkes fled to Germany with his family to escape a lengthy prison sentence. A few years later, Bontkes ventured back into the Bellingwolde area after all. When it became known that the municipality would put Villa Benvenuto up for sale, Bontkes got the idea to buy the villa back. This would allow him to properly receive his NSB friends from the region and from Germany here. The municipality - so soon after the war - wanted to prevent this anyway. Solution: the villa was demolished. Not much was heard of the Bontkes family after that.