Buying a house in the Archipelbuurt (The Hague): how to reach the owners

The Archipelbuurt is a neighbourhood where little comes up for sale and much of it changes hands without ever reaching Funda. If you want to live here, a personal letter to the owners in a few chosen streets gives you a better chance than waiting for a listing.

In short

The Archipelbuurt has 4,241 addresses in the BAG register.
An existing home in the municipality of 's-Gravenhage sold in 2025 for €465,000 on average, +4.0% on 2024 (CBS StatLine).

Written by Jiri, estate agent in Maastricht and founder of DoorLetter.

Updated on 6 October 2026.

The Archipelbuurt is small and quiet, and precisely because of that so little comes up for sale. Those who live here have a town house or a spacious flat within walking distance of the centre and do not just move. If something does come free, it has often already been discussed before any photos have been taken, and it goes to someone from the neighbourhood who wants to move from a flat to a whole house, or to a candidate an agent already had on his list.

The neighbourhood was built up in the last decades of the nineteenth century, and the streets are named after islands of the former East Indies archipelago, such as the Bankastraat and the Sumatrastraat. They are mainly town houses, many of which were later split into a ground-floor flat and one or more upper flats; some of the larger properties have become offices or embassies. The Bankastraat is the neighbourhood's shopping street. An unsplit town house with a garden is what is most asked for and comes free least; a good flat with high ceilings comes up somewhat more often.

If I were searching here, I would choose the Sumatrastraat or a stretch of the Riouwstraat and write to the residents of the properties I really find beautiful. Who we are, why the Archipelbuurt, and that we are going to live in the house ourselves. Anyone selling here often chooses deliberately whom to sell to, and a letter gives that owner someone to choose.

Archipelbuurt in figures

Public figures about the neighbourhood, refreshed daily. They say something about who lives here and what it costs; whether anything will come up for sale, they do not say. That is what the letter is for.

Homes

Addresses: 4,241; BAG via PDOK

Value and prices

Average sale price, municipality of Den Haag: €465,000+4.0% on 2024; CBS StatLine, existing homes 2025

Sources: the Dutch address and building register (BAG) via PDOK, CBS neighbourhood statistics (Wijken en Buurten), CBS StatLine (existing owner-occupied homes, average sale price per municipality). No source publishes overbidding figures per neighbourhood, so they are not here.

The average sale price in Den Haag per year since 1995

Streets people ask about

These are the streets most often named by people searching in the Archipelbuurt. Choose one or two where you would really want to live, not the whole list.

Bankastraat · Sumatrastraat · Riouwstraat · Javastraat · Celebesstraat · Nassauplein

Postcode area 2585.

Other neighbourhoods in The Hague

This page in Dutch: Huis kopen in de Archipelbuurt.

Frequently asked questions

How do I approach owners in the Archipelbuurt?

With one personal letter to the residents of the properties where you would really want to live. Say who you are, why the Archipelbuurt, and that you are going to live in the house yourself. Through DoorLetter the first letter is free, printed and delivered by PostNL; the owner can reply anonymously with the code in the letter.

Does much come up for sale in the Archipelbuurt?

Flats come up now and then, whole town houses rarely. Those often change hands within the neighbourhood or through an agent with a list, before there is any advertisement. Anyone looking for a whole house gets to an owner sooner here with a letter than by waiting.

Which streets are the most sought after?

The quiet streets with unsplit town houses, and for anyone who wants the shops around the corner the streets around the Bankastraat. Above all, look at the properties you find beautiful; in a neighbourhood of this size your letter does not need to go to every street.

Many properties are split or offices. Whom do I write to then?

Start with the bells next to the door. If there are several, the property has been split and you write to the residents of the flat you are looking for. A company name or a flag on the facade points to an office or an embassy; you can skip those. If there is one name, one household usually lives in the whole property, and that is often the owner himself.

Write to the owners in the Archipelbuurt.

Pick a street, write in your own words why you want to live in the Archipelbuurt, and send your letter. The first letter is free, printed and delivered by PostNL; the owner can reply anonymously with the code in the letter.

Write your first letter