Het temmen van Woestduin

Consensus has always been that a 1766 design for Woestduin by Adriaan Snoek was never realised. While that is probably true, new research into the owner’s financial records shows considerable involvement of Snoek in the layout of this park. As a surveyor, Snoek played an important role for two consecutive owners when they expanded the park to its current size. His name can also be attached to specific parts of the layout. Some of his work is still visible today, even after the creation of a racecourse (for horses) on this site in the early twentieth century.

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Summary

Consensus has always been that a 1766 design for Woestduin by Adriaan Snoek was never realised. While that is probably true, new research into the owner’s financial records shows considerable involvement of Snoek in the layout of this park. As a surveyor, Snoek played an important role for two consecutive owners when they expanded the park to its current size. His name can also be attached to specific parts of the layout. Some of his work is still visible today, even after the creation of a racecourse (for horses) on this site in the early twentieth century.

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Een buurman als influencer?

The publication of a richly illustrated travel journal, a trip through Southern England and to London undertaken by four Dutchmen in 1769, leads to new ideas about a garden in the Netherlands. Paul Hurgronje, one of the 1769 travellers, went on to buy an estate in Heemstede in 1775 (Spruytenbosch). I have written extensively about the garden layout of Westerhout, bordering to the north of Spruytenbosch, in these years. And I am now left wondering whether Hurgronje’s direct knowledge of English gardens and parks may have influenced the landscape style layout of Westerhout, his direct neighbours?

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Summary

The publication of a richly illustrated travel journal, a trip through Southern England and to London undertaken by four Dutchmen in 1769, leads to new ideas about a garden in the Netherlands. Paul Hurgronje, one of the 1769 travellers, went on to buy an estate in Heemstede in 1775 (Spruytenbosch). I have written extensively about the garden layout of Westerhout, bordering to the north of Spruytenbosch, in these years. And I am now left wondering whether Hurgronje’s direct knowledge of English gardens and parks may have influenced the landscape style layout of Westerhout, his direct neighbours?

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Published: Adriaan Snoek at 18th century Westerhout

Mijn meest recente artikel is net uit, samen met andere mooie artikelen verschenen in de tweede bundel van tuinhistorisch genootschap Cascade, onder de naam Tuingeschiedenis in Nederland. Dit postje geeft kort de inhoud van dat artikel in het Engels weer. Nederlandstaligen die benieuwd zijn naar bronverwijzingen (of gewoon meer willen weten), worden verwezen naar bovengenoemde publicatie.
Vragen stellen aan de hand van dit bericht kan natuurlijk ook, aanvullingen worden helemaal op prijs gesteld.

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Summary

Mijn meest recente artikel is net uit, samen met andere mooie artikelen verschenen in de tweede bundel van tuinhistorisch genootschap Cascade, onder de naam Tuingeschiedenis in Nederland. Dit postje geeft kort de inhoud van dat artikel in het Engels weer. Nederlandstaligen die benieuwd zijn naar bronverwijzingen (of gewoon meer willen weten), worden verwezen naar bovengenoemde publicatie.
Vragen stellen aan de hand van dit bericht kan natuurlijk ook, aanvullingen worden helemaal op prijs gesteld.

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The new Elswout forecourt plan

Plans to reconstruct the forecourt of Elswout have been presented by Stichting Plein Elswout. I’m wondering what they’ll do with the large trees at the edges of the site…

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Summary

Plans to reconstruct the forecourt of Elswout have been presented by Stichting Plein Elswout. I’m wondering what they’ll do with the large trees at the edges of the site…

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Zochers probably did not design Keukenhof beech avenue

Father and son Zocher are often mentioned as designers of the beech avenue at Keukenhof. An analysis of their rejected design (by lack of a preserved final one) casts some doubt on that assumption. They probably didn’t bother, or weren’t allowed to.

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Summary

Father and son Zocher are often mentioned as designers of the beech avenue at Keukenhof. An analysis of their rejected design (by lack of a preserved final one) casts some doubt on that assumption. They probably didn’t bother, or weren’t allowed to.

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Excavating a modern garden

Jardines de Pedro Luis Alonso, a garden I have only seen once -looking down from halfway up the hill towards the Gibralfaro Castle in Málaga (Spain)- prompted some of the general questions garden historians face when writing about a garden. Especially when the garden is not very familiar to them,…

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From WIC to West 8: Dutch developments on Governors Island

Dutch developers return on New York’s shores for the first time since 1674, as a team lead by architects from Rotterdam based West 8 Urban Design & Landscape Architecture win the competition for the redevelopment of Governors Island. The results of the competition were made public by New York mayor…

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Go, and build villa’s in a Belgian landscape park

… was my first, slightly cynical reaction on reports across the web that speak of an endangered landscape park in Belgium. But it may turn out quite OK in the end, maybe. The endangered park is surrounding the so-called Kasteel van Walle, near Kortrijk. The danger comes in the form…

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