Ockenburgh - Den Haag

Jacob Westerbaen, son of a humble rope-maker, rose to knighthood through his marriage to a noble lady. This allowed him to afford to build the Ockenburgh estate. It is one of The Hague's lesser-known parks, located in a remote corner of the city. Right next to the former horticultural village of Loosduinen, which was once part of the ever hard-working Westland.

Westerbaen must have laughed about it, because he was not crazy about working. He received artists and poets at his country estate, entirely in keeping with the fashion among wealthy culture lovers of the seventeenth century. In the famous white country house, which like the English landscape garden still exists, Jacob Westerbaen enjoyed the good life. The garden not only showed refined taste, but also served to impress high-minded friends. They were not the least of these: 'homo universalis' Christiaan Huygens and council pensionary Johan van Oldenbarnevelt were among Westerbaen's circle of acquaintances. The latter showed little frugality and died without leaving a penny behind.

Photo: Matthijs Termeer