Carriages of the country Estate

14 June 2012

In the previous century it was practice among the elite to be in town during winter and to depart in summer for their country estates to escape the summer heat. Along the banks of the Vecht river and on many other locations beautiful pleasure grounds arose. Country life became lifestyle of the wealthy Amsterdam merchants.

The Amsterdam Van Loon family owned an impressive canal house with a coach house to keep their numerous coaches and horses. Furthermore they possessed a large country estate Hydepark. This truly gigantic house was built in 1889 for the Van Loon – Borski couple and numbered over 80 rooms for their foreign and domestic guests. The Hydepark stable complex was even more imposing.

Although Hydepark was destroyed by fire, a number of sport-, service- and gala-carriages and accompanying liveries and many photographs have survived. During the exhibition Rijtuigen op de Buitenplaats – Carriages of the country Estate - these items provide ample picture of life in the country.