Duivenvoorde Castle

Duivenvoorde is first recorded in 1226 and has never been sold: it passed by inheritance through the Duvenvoirde, Wassenaer, Steengracht and Schimmelpenninck families for close to eight hundred years, until the last owner, Ludolphine Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, put it into a foundation in 1960 and opened it. That continuity is what makes the interior worth seeing - the furniture, portraits, porcelain, glass and silver were accumulated by successive generations of one line rather than assembled by a collector or a museum, so the rooms show what a Dutch noble household actually kept over centuries. The house itself is a medieval core rebuilt in 1631 in a restrained Dutch classicism, moated, with an English landscape park laid out in the nineteenth century around it. It is one of the older country houses in Holland to survive at all.

What you actually see

• One family line since 1226 - never sold, passed by inheritance for eight centuries.
• Accumulated contents - portraits, porcelain and silver gathered by successive generations.
• A 1631 rebuild - restrained Dutch classicism over a medieval core, moated.
• An English landscape park - laid out around the house in the nineteenth century.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The house is seen on a guided tour with set times and is closed for much of the winter. Photography inside is restricted. The park is pleasant but modest. Voorschoten has little else.

Nearby

Leiden is north-east; Wassenaar and the coast are west.