Real Estate #1: Kasteel Groeneveld – Architecture and Life in the 18th Century

Real Estate is a new series dedicated to exploring villas, estates, and remarkable buildings across the Netherlands — places that are often overlooked, not because they lack beauty or significance, but because they still exist quietly within the fabric of everyday life.

The first event of the series takes us to Kasteel Groeneveld, an elegant 18th-century country estate in Baarn with a distinctly international character. Built as a buitenplaats for the ruling elite, Groeneveld offers a rare opportunity to explore how architecture, landscape, art, and daily life were once woven together.

During our visit, we will explore both the castle itself and its vast 130-hectare estate, discovering how regents lived, how the gardens and kitchen plots functioned, and how nature and culture were carefully shaped to coexist. The park is full of quiet details and unexpected corners that reveal a different perspective on Dutch history and landscape design.

This is not a rushed visit or a checklist of highlights, but a slow exploration of a place designed to be experienced through movement, space, and time.

### Practical information

• Meeting point: 13:00 at bus stop Drakenburgerweg, Baarn
• We will walk together from there to the estate and begin the exploration
• Comfortable shoes are recommended due to the size of the park

### After the visit

After exploring the estate, we will stop at Grand Café Groeneveld, located on the grounds of the castle. The café offers a small but interesting selection of beers from local microbreweries such as Swarte Os and Gooische, providing a relaxed moment to reflect and exchange impressions after the walk.

Real Estate is about discovering places that quietly shape the cultural landscape of the Netherlands — buildings and estates that tell stories not through spectacle, but through presence.