At the start of the 17th century, rich merchants from Amsterdam started to acquire estates in the countryside around the city. The merchants and their families would spend the summer there, relaxing, gardening and hunting - copying the aristocratic lifestyle. It became fashionable to have a house along the
Vecht or the
Amstel, or in
Kennemerland, the area around Haarlem. South Kennemerland was easy to reach from Amsterdam, by boat or horse, and the countryside was attractive, partly due to the raw landscape of the dunes. Between
Heemskerk and
Beverwijk in the north and
Vogelenzang in the south, an almost continuous chain arose of country houses and stately homes with extensive gardens. The area obtained the nickname ‘’Victorious Kennemerland’’. Most of these country houses are now lost, but some are still there. Both
Duin and Berg, and
Kruidberg, the predecessors of the current house, belonged to these estates founded by rich Amsterdam merchants.
Duin en berg Duin en Berg was mentioned for the first time in 1598, when Steffen Cornelis Rijcken sold the estate to Aerndt Hendrich and Pieter van Dael. During the 17th and 18th century, the estate changed hands multiple times, either through inheritance or being sold to another merchants. Also, a
French formal garden was added, including fountains, statues, and a small maze of shrubs He reconstructed the house and added a formal baroque-style garden as well. However, these plans were never realized, maybe due to his departure to England. The house and estate was rented out. Today, only a small fragment remains of the 17th century Kruidberg house, which is now part of a riding school. Based on a design by an English architect, H.R. Hitchcock, he constructed a new house on the estate. For the first time, the estate was named as "Duin en Kruidberg".
Jacob Theodoor Cremer Jacob Theodoor Cremer, born in
Zwolle, moved to the
Dutch East Indies in 1868. In 1907, Queen
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (1880–1962) appointed him president of NHM, a role he held until 1912. Towards the end of his career, Cremer served as the
Dutch ambassador to Washington, tasked with improving Dutch-US relations post the
First World War.
Building a new country house Cremer commissioned the architect Johannes van Nieukerken (1854–1913) and his team to design a new country house at Duin and Kruidberg. In July 1907, the foundation stone for Duin en Kruidberg was laid by Cremer's five-year-old grandson. In 1996, a conference center with five meeting rooms, four breakout rooms, and a Business Center was built. At the start of the
COVID-19 pandemic, the restaurant temporarily closed. In 2020, it permanently closed its doors. On 23 December 2019, ABN AMRO sold Duin en Kruidberg to Lucas Petit, who manages six other hotels as well through his company Hoscom. Since 1995, it has been a protected Natura 2000 area as part of the
Zuid-Kennemerland National Park. ==Interior==