Historische aanleg, Nieuwe Offemweg bij 1

English translation

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Description

Description

HISTORIC GARDEN AND PARK LAYOUT belonging to the country estate Offem. The oldest nucleus of the layout is formed by the originally 16th-century double-moated building site, which was accessible by means of a straight avenue coming from the village of Noordwijk (north-westerly direction). This avenue, parts of the moating (south ditch and west ditch, the latter nowadays called 'stinkvijver') and several lane routes (along the south ditch, part of access avenue, parallel to the Nachtegaalslaan) are now still present in accordance with the map of surveyor de Roos from 1704.

Around 1812 the layout was extended on the north-east and south-west sides and regraded in landscape style, partly while retaining the formal structure. A presentation drawing from 1817 by surveyor H. van Zutphen has been preserved of the landscape style layout, he also concerned himself with the execution of the layout as is shown by an account from 1813. On the cadastral minute of 1813 the first regrades are already indicated. With the layout in landscape style, which is now partly present in structure and partly in detail, a spacious, tapering meadow was formed for the old main building (north-east), furnished with tree groups and solitary trees and enclosed by tree screens (see engraving by Lutgers, ca.1855). The transition from meadow to forest is marked by watercourses graded in curves, along which a circular walk over winding paths, partly with relief and furnished with various types of trees (the legend mentions: 'spruces of various types', 'tall trees of various types', 'weeping willows'); the walking path along the western watercourse is still present. Through the walking forests on either side of the meadow run straight and curved avenues, these are no longer present except for a single old beech avenue. Several straight watercourses that were already visible on 17th-century maps (moating, the water channels) were dammed in this period (ditch) or regraded into a curved pond (Zuidbroekse watering). The access avenue has a straight route from the Nieuwe Offemweg, and makes a bend beyond the main building to then resume its straight course, ending at the Nachtegaalslaan. Parallel to the Nachtegaalslaan runs a beech avenue, which indicates the boundary of the park forest, from which open views over the adjacent meadows are available.

In 1858 the orientation of the main building was rotated by a quarter turn to the south-east. Directly in front of the house a rectangular ornamental garden is laid out (1913) of which the structure is still present and part of the planting has been preserved. The sunken ornamental garden, now grass parterre, with arboretum-like screen planting is closed off at the end (west) by a low brick SMALL WALL provided with a SMALL STEPS and crowned by a balustrade. In the middle of the garden lies a sculpted concrete WATER BASIN. The short arm of the east ditch was presumably regraded in this period into a wide rectangular pond section. The kitchen garden, which had traditionally been located near the house, was moved further east around 1862. The angular kitchen garden, partly enclosed by walls, is no longer in use as such. The glasshouses have been demolished, but the pump system has been preserved and some remnants of the orchard (espalier fruit) are still present. Behind the former stable adjoining coach house (now part of the current main building) lay a second rectangular kitchen garden (see Roos 1704 and Van Zutphen 1817), here too at the end of the 19th / beginning 20th century an ornamental garden with roses was laid out as an aerial photograph shows. Now grass, garden wall still present. West of this lay a star forest in the 18th century, of which a central avenue (north-east-south-west) still remains.

Valuation

HISTORIC GARDEN AND PARK LAYOUT belonging to the country estate Offem of general importance: - because of its age; - because of the layout in landscape style from ca.1812 belonging to the country estate (executed and presumably designed by surveyor H. van Zutphen) and in which both elements from the formal period, such as ditches and avenues, and elements from the late 19th century and early 20th century are recognizable; - as a rare preserved example from the oeuvre of H. van Zutphen; - because of the functional-spatial relationship with the other components of the country estate.