Over Holland

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Complex component 2

HISTORICAL GARDEN AND PARK LAYOUT CONSISTING OF PARK SURROUNDING THE MAIN BUILDING COUNTRY HOUSE OVER HOLLAND AND OVERPARK.

The historical layout of the country estate Over Holland has traditionally consisted of a house park and an overpark, separated from each other by the Rijksstraatweg. The house park is bounded by the country estates Sterreschans (north side) and Vijverhof (south side) and by the Vecht. The overpark, which is bounded on the north side by the overpark of the country estate Sterreschans, the Stadswetering which separates both estates, belongs to Over Holland, originally extended beyond the Merwedekanaal and has been closed off on the west side by the Amsterdam Rhine Canal since its construction. On the south side the overpark is closed off by an avenue with views of the agricultural plots to the south and north of it. The connecting element between both park sections has traditionally been formed by the sight line planted with two rows of avenue trees in the overpark, projected onto the heart of the house as well as by the avenue behind the southern entrance gate which runs from the Vecht and which continues on the other side of the Straatweg in the overpark. This situation is already visible as such on the New map of Loenen by C.C. van Bloemswaerdt from 1726. This map indicates that the entire infrastructure of straight watercourses of the house park as well as almost the entire layout of the plots of the overpark by a structure of straight watercourses already existed at that time. The present-day visually characteristic straight lime avenue, which closes off the house park towards the Rijksstraatweg and branches off in a straight line towards the Vecht at the south side of the house park, also already existed then. Due to the landscape transformation of the park in the second half of the 18th century, the avenue at the height of the pond complex on the west side of the house was partly felled. As is the case today, the originally larger utility gardens were already located in 1726 along the Rijksstraatweg on the south side of the overpark. The remaining part lies to the south of the axis which is projected in a straight line onto the southern entrance gate of the house park. The farmhouse with stable in the NW corner of the overpark was also present in 1726. During the landscape transformation of the park in the second half of the 18th century, the farmhouse formed an important garden feature object in the overpark transformed into a 'ferme ornée' (as with the overpark of Sterreschans). The farmhouse existed until 1928 and was subsequently demolished. Following the purchase of the country estate by Mr. Willem Straalman in 1755, in connection with or following the renovation of the house, a complete transformation of the house park in landscape style takes place. The transformed layout is described by H. Numan in his Twenty-four printed drawings with colours depicting Dutch Country Estates with their descriptions from 1797. Numan writes: "Moreover, it (Over Holland) has on its own ground particular pleasures because its Owner the Well-born Mr. Willem Straalman, Lord of Ruwiel and Provost of the Chapter St. Marie in Utrecht, &cr, &cr., residing in Amsterdam, since the Year 1755 has taken great pains to transform everything that was stiff and inelegant to the eye, into winding walks and undulating grounds accompanied and intersected with refreshing Streams, and spacious bodies of water, which receive their supply from the River de Vecht, as well as very shaded Rest places and Arbours, Ruins and other variations which all contribute to making this country residence more pleasant".

With this transformation, the formerly formal pond complex to the west of the house was excavated into a spacious oval-shaped pond complex in landscape style surrounded by a park meadow, whereby the west facade of the pavilion came to stand in the water. A second winding pond was laid out to the south of the house. The excavated earth was used to provide the terrain with slopes; on the south slope of the hill right along the second winding pond a ruin was erected as a garden feature object, of which the remains have been preserved. To the south of the terrain various hill sections were raised and this part was provided with park-wood-like planting, intersected by winding paths. The park section around the pond to the west of the house was kept more transparent by the planting of solitary trees and a few tree groups, probably also in connection with the view from the house into the overpark. The Chinese pavilion at the Vecht was also already built at that time. This is evident from the advertisement in the Oprechter Haerlemmer Courant from June 1799, as well as from the auction bill from 1799 in the house archive of Over Holland, in which the Chinese pavilion is explicitly mentioned. This entire early landscape layout of the house park has been preserved to the present day. During the Straalman period, the overpark was enlarged somewhat by land purchase. The overpark has always had a strong utilitarian character with the aforementioned vegetable garden but also including meadows among other things. Part of it was provided with landscape elements during the Straalman period and older components such as the sight avenue and the farmhouse were incorporated into it. In a plot adjacent to the north side of the vegetable gardens, on a rectangular terrain divided in two by a straight watercourse, which is entirely surrounded by water to the present day, a still-preserved round pool was laid out in the northern part. Originally the pool formed part of a garden layout on this plot, which still existed in 1828, as the Original Indicating Tables belonging to the Cadastral Draft Plan from that year describe this plot as "pleasure garden for recreation". In the course of the 20th century the plot became overgrown with trees, as also on the Bonnekaart from 1887-1916 this plot with round pool still had an open character. Apart from that, the overpark underwent landscaping during the Straalman period, but with retention of the structure of straight watercourses. This landscaped part extends in an L-shape along the Straatweg and the north side of the overpark. In the aforementioned advertisement from the Oprechter Haerlemmer Courant from 1799, this country property is described as follows: "Country property, where on it the capital vegetable gardens and hot beds, permanent greenhouses and beds, furthermore winding woods, Avenues, orchards, gardener's dwelling, sheds, haystacks, wagon house, and a separate coach house and stabling for 11 horses. Finally various fields extra well prepared hay and meadows, measuring 20 morgen". This gardener's dwelling, which also served as a farmhouse, was located until the beginning of the 20th century on the NW side of the overpark, right north of the coach house and horse stable, on a plot on the north side of the sight axis, where also a shed and 3 haystacks were situated, as appears from the Cadastral Draft Plan from 1828. The other buildings on this plot, whose origin went back to the beginning of the 18th century (Bloemswaerdt map 1726) or earlier, were cleared away in the 20th century. The Original Indicating Tables belonging to the draft plan confirms the combination of utilitarian and recreational quality of the layout of the overpark, as that also already existed in the beginning of the 18th century, albeit now more in a landscaped context: the majority of the wooded plots and watercourses were assessed at that time as 'wood or pleasure wood for recreation' and 'water for recreation'. With this the overpark, just like the overpark of the adjacent country estate Sterreschans, had the character of a 'ferme ornée', a motif from the early landscape style, in which the farmhouse also as a garden feature object in a landscaped setting represented an ornamental role and was a reference to the idealized pastoral life in the literature and painting of that period. Winding paths and avenues offered views of the surrounding agricultural land, such as the winding avenue planted with oak on both sides, which originates approximately in the middle of the overpark and leads in a southwestern direction and offers views of the meadows which were also already open on the north and south side at that time.

In 1928 the country estate Over Holland was sold to the Foundation Het Utrechts Landschap, which opened the overpark as a public walking park. Over time, virtually all bridges have been replaced by dams so that the character of plots as islands surrounded by water is less clear. Due to overgrowth, the originally more refined detailing with paths has become obscured.

Valuation

The HISTORICAL GARDEN AND PARK LAYOUT CONSISTING OF PARK SURROUNDING THE MAIN BUILDING COUNTRY HOUSE OVER HOLLAND AND OVERPARK is of general importance

- by reason of the cultural-historical value as well-preserved historical garden and park layout from the 17th and 18th century as an expression of a social-economic and recreational development and tradition from the 17th and 18th century, whereby wealthy private individuals from the perspective of exploitation and recreation have developed the lands on both sides of the Vecht into a country estate landscape.

- by reason of the architectural-historical value in particular the garden-historical value as a fine example of an 18th-century house park and overpark in early landscape style with still recognizable components in formal style and as an example of an overpark as an expression of a 'ferme ornée';

- by reason of the rarity and beauty value; - the very high visual and ensemble values.