Historical Gardens

Earlier this month, the first step in the transfer of Beeckestijn to its new owners was finally completed by the transfer of ownership from the Velsen council to the department of DLG.¹ It has taken all parties involved almost 6 months to agree on the terms and conditions under which the transfer takes place. It is now up to DLG and the designated owners (Vereniging Natuurmonumenten, Vereniging Hendrick de Keyser and one private financier) to finalise the full transfer and present the new plans.In early July the new owners stated they would have the plans for Beeckestijn’s future ready and present them at a first exhibition in December 2007. The fact that now only the first step in the process has been finalised is evidence that these talks are more difficult than originally expected.If one looks at the constellation of the new ownership, it is hardly surprising these talks have taken so long. Every party involved at the receiving end of the deal has their own ideas and preferences for the future of the estate. And because the estate is not sold but traded for development areas elsewhere in Velsen, the parties that are giving Beeckestijn away also have a say in its future. The parameters set by the ‘giving’ parties are:

• the estate should remain open to the public (Velsen council).
• the new owners must be able to maintain the estate in a sustainable way for a considerable time (the Province of Noord Holland).
• [there used to be a demand to maintain the unity between house and park, expressed by the Velsen council earlier in the process, but I do not see this anymore]

On the receiving end, the parties involved have already shown they are capable of working together, but their preferences are difficult to combine. They need to find a balance between the ecological relationships between the garden and surrounding area one the one hand, and the simultaneous creation of a museum of gardening on the other, all within the parameters the giving parties have set.No one’s saying this will be easy, but the first step has been made.

1. See for more information on the transfer and the organisations involved here, here and here. [back]

Dutch newspaper Volkskrant today reports about a Dutch garden architect who is active in Georgia, the former Russian province. The architect and his Dutch team have probably profited from the fact that the wife of the Georgian president is of Dutch origin. Martin Veltkamp, the architect, says the president himself ordered his consul in The Netherlands to find him a team who could make a design, and be ready on Independence Day, May 26 2007. Apart from some minor construction work, the team was able to meet that deadline.

Photo: Dadiani Palace, Zugdidi
Originally uploaded by tball01

The Dutch architects are currently working on projects in Tblisi, Georgia’s capital city. Their first realised project are is a ‘childrens rest park’ in the gardens around the Dadiani Palace Museum and botanical gardens in the western town of Zugdidi. Situated some 50 kilometers from the Eastern shore of the Black Sea, this town apparently boasts a tropical climate. President Saakashvili opened the ‘childrens rest park’ near the museum on Georgia’s independence day. For the park, trees from France and The Netherlands were brought in.

I hope to be able to give some more information about the actual plans, in the mean time we will need to make do with this photograph of what certainly is new plantation -but probably is not part of the new work in Zugdidi. Having looked at some of his work, it is probable Veltkamp only designed plans for a small portion of the park. Update @ September 10, 2007: there is a picture available here, together with information that the part Veltkamp worked on is 1.5 hectares in size.

Martin Veltkamp has been active since 1983 and is now rapidly becoming one of the most renowned garden architects of The Netherlands, at least one with a very international profile. In 2006 he opened an office in Dubai. One of the few examples of his work I have found (outside his own website) is this design for a house that was for sale in his hometown Bergschenhoek. If this is anything to go by (and seeing the examples on his website it probably is), Veltkamp designs geometrically structured gardens, with several almost secluded areas which all have their own use. In short: ‘cottage style with a rigid twist’ (and just pretend ‘rigid’ can ‘twist’). These areas are contained within and lined with hedges or other natural materials. For the details within these areas, high grade (read: luxury) materials are used.

According to a description in a local (Bergschenhoek) online newspaper, his aim is to design gardens with a minimum of maintenance and a maximum of pleasure. The owner/user of the garden should not be bothered by the design, the design –and subsequently the garden- should assist him in the entertainment of his guests (Veltkamp’s own website). We can see why he opened an office in Dubai, there should be a big market for his trade there.But Georgia? Well, we can’t blame the architect for trying. Update @ September 30, 2007: In the Volkskrant article Veltkamp states that he will have ten year’s worth of work, if the current government remains in power. Since the arrest of an opposition leader earlier this week by president Saakashvili has lead to widespread protests, the future is looking bleak for Veltkamp’s upcoming office opening on November 1st, 2007.

In a predictable turn of events, the arrangements surrounding Beeckestijn have led to questions in parliament (Tweede Kamer). Mrs. Snijder-Hazelhoff, member of parliament for the oppositional liberal party (VVD) and -according to her profile- dairy farmer in the northeastern part of The Netherlands, directed questions to the Minister of Agriculture (Gerda Verburg -CDA) on the legitimacy of the process, and whether other parties (read: market parties) have been considered in the process.

The last point should have been quite clear for someone with only the slightest grasp on the recent history of this estate: just over a year ago plans to sell the estate to a market party were blocked by both local and national politicians. I know we have had Italian-style changes in national and local politics in the past few years, but one would expect that someone would do some reading into a subject, before going public with questions like that.

However, one can see why she questions (pdf-link) the process followed in this case. As a farmer she must have dealt on a regular basis with the ministry of agriculture, and maybe its subsidiary Dienst Landelijke Gebieden (DLG -national service for rural areas) as well, and she might be worried. When local politicians were looking for a solution for Beeckestijn, DLG stepped in with a solution favourable to almost everyone: DLG would be taking over the estate and some surrounding grounds in exchange for areas in DLG’s possesion in Velserbroek, part of Velsen. In addition to that, Velsen would get the opportunity to use these new grounds as a development area, in which way they’d secure a bigger revenue for losing the estate than by just selling it to the highest bidder. In the mean time, Beeckestijn would be ‘passed on’ by DLG to nature preservation society Natuurmonumenten and partners, who declared they wanted to restore and maintain the estate. Everybody happy.

Except for the farmer whose land lies in Velserbroek, within the area given away by DLG as development plot. Continue Reading »

It is official: Beeckestijn as complete estate is saved (to the left: an image of only half the territory as pictured on the 1772 estate map by architect Johann Georg Michael).
Last Thursday evening (it only took them ten minutes) the Velsen council voted in favour of plans to exchange the estate against development plots elsewhere. This vote marks the end of over 5 years of uncertainty for the estate and the people involved. A lot of damage has been caused by the uncertainty: in the meantime the museum has closed and its collection has been distributed around the country. The garden is maintained on only a minimal level.

So the ambitious new owners have a lot of work cut out for themselves (see my two previous posts for more information about them). Their aim is to present a plan for a centre for garden and landscape architecture before the end of this year, and that will be a big task. The bottomline of today must be the fact that Beeckestijn will venture into a new period in its long history, though. Once again a period of hope commences.

(In my previous post I reflected on Beeckestijn as being eyed by two organisations -Cascade and Stichting Nationaal Tuinmuseum- in their efforts to create a garden museum in The Netherlands. Comments on the Cascade weblog indicate that they are currently not involved in talks about the future of Beeckestijn. To be continued, I’m sure.)

According to a report in Haarlems Dagblad, Beeckestijn will become a centre for garden and landscape architecture. A spokesman of Vereniging Hendrick de Keyser reportedly said as much in a meeting with the Velsen town council last Thursday. Later this year a they will present a plan, together with prospected co-owner Natuurmonumenten. Dutch garden history society Cascade have meanwhile teamed up with the Foundation for a Dutch National Garden Museum (Stichting Nationaal Tuinmuseum). Both organisations have cast an eye on Beeckestijn as a possible location for such a museum.

The Velsen town council is currently preparing a decision on the plan presented by the mayor and aldermen to exchange Beeckestijn against grounds nearby. The meeting of last Thursday must be seen as a step in that process. According to Haarlems Dagblad the council will probably agree with the plan. A decision is expected within a few weeks.

The mayor and aldermen of Velsen yesterday announced that they plan not to sell the estate Beeckestijn. Instead, they will exchange the estate against land currently owned by the National Agency of Rural Areas (Dienst Landelijk Gebied -DLG). DLG is part of the department of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (Ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit -LNV). Included in the exchange are the recreational area and some pastures next to the estate. The local council will have to decide on this exchange within the next few weeks. Continue Reading »

Interesting stories emerge from documents produced by the council of Velsen. Finally, the minutes of the last debates of the old council have been published in November (debates dating back to Januari and March 2006). It is fascinating to see how desparate the former council was to get Beeckestijn sold before the elections in March 2006. Staring into the headlights of the upcoming local elections -with devastating results predicted- the former council had the brilliant idea to upgrade the opinion on one of the bidders for Beeckestijn during a meeting in which these bids were discussed.¹ The new council has now made plans to get Beeckestijn sold before July 2007 to be able to get the budget in check with the financial wishes of the province, under who’s supervision the council operates (in a sort of ‘Chapter 11′ situation). But: surprisingly good returns on several ground speculation projectes suddenly yielded around €7 million towards the council’s treasury in the last months. Meanwhile, the opposition (i.e. the former counsil) starts questioning these returns. ² Continue Reading »

1. Council meeting March 2, 2006, Mr. Westerman: “Voorzitter, GroenLinks is, in tegenstelling tot Velsen Lokaal, er niet van overtuigd dat er zorgvuldig gewerkt is. Wij hebben dit vanaf juni jl. regelmatig herhaald. Ik blijf hierbij en het is gisteravond wederom geïllustreerd omdat de wethouder ineens, ter plaatse, bij het staatje nulletjes in plusjes begon om te zetten. Dit had tot gevolg dat bieders die dit hebben gehoord, vandaag raadsleden benaderden en vroegen ‘Waarom is dit bij die bieder wel gebeurd, maar bij ons niet?’. Het betekent, wethouder, dat u hiermee de kans op een juridisch probleem oploopt. Over zorgvuldigheid gesproken!” [back]
2. Council meeting November 8, 2006, remark from Mr. Vosse [opposition]: “In de tweede tussentijdse rapportage, die verscheen na de aanbieding van de begroting, bleek dat uit de afronding van een aantal grondexploitaties ineens een bate van zeven miljoen boven water kwam. De LGV vraagt zich dan af waar de specificatie van dit enorme bedrag blijft. Om welke grondposities en projecten gaat het eigelijk. En was – en dat is helemaal een merkwaardige zaak - van de gerealiseerde deelprojecten in voorgaande jaren niets bekend? Of is er – om welke reden dan ook - een geheime spaarpot aangelegd voor het nieuwe College?“ An explanation in the same minutes delivered by Mr. Ockeloen. [back]