Kasteel de Hooge Vuursche
Facts and practical information
De Hooge Vuursche is an early-20th-century castle-like country house in the municipality of Baarn. It is not to be confused with the former 17th-century country house of the same name, presumably demolished in 1815. That country house stood at the height of the current exit to Lage Vuursche, on the north side of the Hilversumsestraatweg.
The extensive woods between Baarn and Hilversum were owned by Lady Louise Charlotte Rutgers van Rozenburg in the 19th century and are known as the Hooge Vuursche. She married Johannes Adrianus Leonard van den Bosch and together they lived in a country house across from the present castle, on the south side of the Hilversumsestraatweg. After her death, Van den Bosch married Baroness Ernestine Louise van Hardenbroek van Lockhorst, and commissioned master builder Eduard Cuypers to build a castle.
Many ornaments conceived in the castle have to do with shipping, as Van den Bosch trained as a lieutenant-ter-sea 1st class. The gardens were laid out by garden architect Dirk Tersteeg of Naarden. The existing Serpentine Pond was extended by 1,500 feet and the excavated sand was used to raise the ground around the pond. These hills were called the Blood Mountain.
The gate reads 1912, but it is assumed that the house was completed in 1911. The family threw many parties there, but after the divorce in 1915, Van den Bosch spent more and more time in the United States.
In 1938 a large part of the estate was sold to the Forestry Commission and the manor was rented to hotel operator Buurke from 1939. After a fire in 1940, the ruins were sold in 1943 to Hotel Maatschappij Gooiland; the manor was rebuilt in 1944 under architect W.C. Hamdorff Sr. In 1975 the castle was taken over by the Heineken Exploitatiemaatschappij, which turned it into a conference centre. From 1987 Heineken leased it to successive hotel chains Postiljon and Accor until it was bought by the Event Company and an investor in 2007. The castle was thoroughly renovated. The "Kasteel de Hooge Vuursche" has 19 guest rooms and the coach house now has six meeting rooms. The house is one of the wedding venues of Baarn.
Utrecht