Lori's sister, Carol, visited us last month for a weekend. So we did what many people do when they have visitors...go someplace we'd probably never go to unless we had visitors, then enjoy it so much that we wondered why we hadn't gone there before. In our case it was de Haar Castle, near Utrecht.
The castle dates back to the 14th and 15th century when it was probably built and rebuilt several times. By the 18th and 19th centuries it had fallen into ruin. At that time the owner had a vision of rebuilding the castle. But like many visionaries, he lacked funds. Soon after he married a Rothschild woman from France and as the introductory movie stated "his financial issues were solved".
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| Small chapel on the grounds |
The couple hired Pierre Cuypers to design and decorate the castle. Cuypers was already world-famous for designing the Rijksmuseum and Centraal Station in Amsterdam. He installed several very modern features....a lift, steam heat, electricity. He also decorated the castle in a very ornate...and non-Dutch style.
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| The ornate entry hall. |
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| The tapestries on the left have "sisters" in the Louvre in Paris. |
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| From the chapel roof |
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| The castle is partially moated. No alligators though. |
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| A happy guy. |
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