Slot Zuylen

Slot Zuylen stands on the Vecht just outside Utrecht, a medieval castle rebuilt in the sixteenth century and given a domestic front in the eighteenth, held by the Van Tuyll van Serooskerken family and opened as a museum in 1952 with its contents. Its wall is the famous feature: a slangenmuur, a serpentine or crinkle-crankle wall enclosing the kitchen garden, built in curves rather than straight so that each south-facing bay traps heat and fruit ripens against it - a technique used in a handful of places in Europe and this is among the longest surviving examples. Isabelle de Charriere, known in Dutch as Belle van Zuylen, was born here in 1740 and grew up in the house; her letters and novels, written in French, made her one of the significant European writers of the period, and her rooms and material are shown.

What you actually see

• A serpentine garden wall - built in curves so each bay traps heat for fruit.
• A castle on the Vecht - medieval core with an eighteenth-century domestic front.
• Belle van Zuylen's house - where the writer was born in 1740 and grew up.
• Family contents - furnishing and collections left in place when it became a museum.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Guided tours only with set times, seasonal, closed in winter. The house is small. The Vecht cycle route past it is busy on summer weekends. Parking is very limited in the village.

Nearby

Utrecht is five kilometres south; the Vecht country houses run north.