Background
His father, Hendrik Viervant, was the son of cabinet builder and stonemason Leendert Viervant the Elder and married Catharina Maria Otten, the sister of the neoclassical architect Jacob Otten Husly.
His father, Hendrik Viervant, was the son of cabinet builder and stonemason Leendert Viervant the Elder and married Catharina Maria Otten, the sister of the neoclassical architect Jacob Otten Husly.
Born and raised in the provincial city of Arnhem, he studied to become an architect with his uncle Husly.
Viervant stemmed from a family of architects, cabinet builders and stonemasons. Also Hendrik"s brother, Anthonie Viervant, was a cabinet maker and Anthonie"s son Roelof Viervant designed garden pavillons and facades. All these family members have designed some buildings in 18th century Netherlands.
Thanks to his family background, Viervant had a good basis to work from.
In 1768 he was entered into the stonemason guild of Amsterdam, where he lived and worked. He lived at the Amstel and later near Hoge Sluis (1784–1790).
In 1791 he was forced to let his inventory be liquidated, because he couldn"t fulfill his financial obligations any longer – finally he was able to come to arrangements with his creditors. In 1798 he became one of the three directors at the City and Public s Department of the City Amsterdam, after his predecessor had to leave because of his support of the Orange family (this was between the revolution and the inclusion in the French Empire).