Country houses and palaces

History and fun facts

Manor houses of the Netherlands

In Overijssel and Drenthe a havezate was a noble house that gave its owner the right to a seat in the Ridderschap, the noble government of the province. They were modest brick houses, often with a moat, a gatehouse and a stair tower.

In Friesland such houses are called states. Of the many states that once stood there, only a few are left, such as Martenastate in Koudum.

Moated houses in Westphalia

The flat Münsterland has little natural protection. That is why the nobles built houses on islands in moats there. More than a hundred of them still stand. Burg Vischering was founded in 1271 and still lies in the middle of the water.

Schloss Nordkirchen was built from 1703 to 1734 in brick with sandstone. It is called the Westphalian Versailles.

The châteaux of the Loire

Chambord was built from 1519 to 1547 for King Francis I, as a hunting lodge. It has round corner towers, a roof full of turrets and chimneys and a famous double spiral staircase, on which two people never meet.

Chenonceau, from 1514 to 1522, stands by the river Cher. In the 16th century a long gallery on arches over the water was added.

Baroque palaces

Vaux-le-Vicomte was built from 1658 to 1661 for the minister Nicolas Fouquet, with a dome in the middle and a large garden by André Le Nôtre. King Louis XIV was so jealous that he had Fouquet arrested in 1661. Then he had the same designers build Versailles.

Het Loo Palace was built from 1684 for the stadtholder William III, with wings around a courtyard of honour and a Baroque garden behind it.

Palladio and his villas

The Italian architect Andrea Palladio lived from 1508 to 1580. He built villas near Venice that look like temples: with columned porticoes, pediments and strict symmetry. Villa La Rotonda near Vicenza, begun around 1567, has a portico on all four sides and a dome in the middle.

In 1570 his book on architecture appeared. Because of it his style was copied everywhere, from English country houses to Trompenburgh in 's-Graveland, which got a domed hall around 1680.

Country estates on the Vecht

In the 17th and 18th centuries rich Amsterdam merchants built country estates along the river Vecht. They lived there in summer, away from the busy town. They travelled there by towed barge over the water.

By the water there was often a tea pavilion: a small building to drink tea and watch the passing boats. Well-known estates are Goudestein in Maarssen and Beeckestijn in Velsen.

Country houses in Spain and southern France

A cortijo is a large farm estate in Andalusia, built around a courtyard, with white walls and tiled roofs. In Galicia stand pazos: granite manor houses with a tower, a chapel, a dovecote and a hórreo, a granary on stilts. Pazo de Oca is called the Galician Versailles.

A masia is a sturdy stone farmhouse in Catalonia. In Provence people built bastides in the 17th and 18th centuries: ochre country houses with shutters and often a dovecote.

Did you know?

• Chambord has 426 rooms, 77 staircases and 282 fireplaces.
• In France before the Revolution of 1789 only the nobility was allowed to have a dovecote.
• In an orangery orange and lemon trees spent the winter in large tubs. In summer they were wheeled outside.
• Fouquet gave a big party for the king at Vaux-le-Vicomte in August 1661. A few weeks later he was arrested.
• Along the Vecht many tea pavilions still stand by the water, sometimes without the country house they belonged to.