Kasteel de Haar

Kasteel de Haar stands near Utrecht as the Netherlands’ largest castle complex, surrounded by gardens, waterworks, and parkland. Its towers, formal avenues, and pseudo-medieval surroundings create a striking architectural setting. The site first appears in records in 1391, when the De Haar family received its castle and lands as a fief. A fire destroyed most of its walls in 1482.

After centuries of decline, Pierre Cuypers led reconstruction from 1892 to 1912 for Etienne van Zuylen and Hélène de Rothschild. The rebuilt castle contains 200 rooms and 30 bathrooms. Cuypers combined older masonry with new brickwork, cast iron, carved wood, electrical lighting, central steam heating, and an advanced kitchen. Copper cookware and a six-metre furnace show the scale of that working space.

Rothschild collections add Japanese and Chinese porcelain, Flemish tapestries, religious paintings, and a Japanese shōgun’s wife’s carrier coach. The coach is said to be one of only two worldwide. Hendrik Copijn’s park includes a Versailles-inspired formal garden and seven thousand mature trees, whose transport required demolishing a house. Haarzuilens was relocated for the park and rebuilt nearby in pseudo-medieval style.