The Crackstate is the most handsome building in Heerenveen — a stately seventeenth-century manor with a steep roof, white shutters, and a small park behind it. The name comes from its first owner, the regent Johannes Crack; a 'stins' is a Frisian fortified house. After several private owners and a long stretch as a courthouse, the town bought it after the Second World War and it has been the municipal hall ever since.
The interior is generally only accessible during open days, but the exterior, the carriage gate, and the gardens are worth a short walk. The building anchors the old centre of Heerenveen alongside the nearby Hervormde Kerk.