Etsrike

Etsrike is a renovated former cattle dealer's farm in Halen, in the Gete valley, between Hageland and Haspengouw. Since 2021, after a thorough renovation, the farm has been a holiday accommodation for 20 people. In the house the group can make full use of the holiday in the dining room, seating area, fitted kitchen and aperitif and recreation room. For comfort and privacy there are 8 spacious bedrooms and 6 bathrooms. On the ground floor, one bathroom is large enough for a wheelchair user. Outside is a large garden with plenty of room to play on the lawn, next to the riding arena. There are terraces, a large metal barbecue, a wooden garden table with 20 seats and a sauna. Ertsenrijk is a hamlet of Halen, south of the village centre. In the past the name was written Echericke, Escherike or Etsrike. The first part is thought to come from "etsel", pasture or meadowland, the second from "rike", enclosure: lying next to the Gete, the area was suited to pasture. In the thirteenth century the manor court Hof van Langdorp or van Vlierbeek, a lower court bound to a lordship, was established here. The area grew into a long fallow pasture around which farms and houses were built. The farm itself was built in the 1940s by a prosperous family of livestock traders, and the adjoining pastures and woodland still cover 5 hectares.