The earliest history of Elswout's construction has been little researched. Recently, however, architectural historian Inger Groeneveld showed that the first house built in 1637 had to be based on a classical Roman villa. The owner is the Lutheran merchant Carl du Moulin. Between 1634 and 1642, he bought fourteen plots of land here in order to create a majestic country estate.
On the basis of similarities in style, Groeneveld appointed three architects as possible designers for Elswout: Jacob van Campen, Pieter Wils and Pieter Post. Among the later owners is Willem Borski, who bought Elswout in 1805. His grandson Willem Borski III built a new house there in 1882, but his death meant that it was never completed. His sister inherited Elswout, but she was not happy about it.
For years, the elements were given free rein until the municipality of Bloemendaal acted. In 1970, the Forestry Commission acquired the 70-hectare complex and launched a redevelopment competition. The winner was Cobraspen, who proposed to carry out the original design drawings by the architect Constantijn Muysken. The orangery now houses a catering establishment.
Old photos: North Holland Archive
Estate Elswout
Elswoutlaan 12a
2051 AE
Overveen
Contact details
T: 023-5242639
E: info@orangerie-elswout.nl
W: http://www.orangerie-elswout.nl/
Opening hours | |
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Open 24 hours |
The estate is freely accessible. The house is not open to the public, with the exception of the orangery.