Soestdijk Palace, a royal setting

• Main Author: Corjan van der Peet
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: KNOB 2010-10-01
• Series: Bulletin KNOB
• Online Access: https://journals.open.tudelft.nl/index.php/knob/article/view/72

Until 2004 Soestdijk Palace was one of the residences of the Oranje-Nassau family. Although the building appeals to one's imagination, until recently no profound research into the complex and its furnishing was carried out. Recently much new information has become available. This article gives a broad outline of the history and character of the palace, notably of the main building. The foundation of the country house in the 17th century was the work of the Amsterdam patrician family De Graeff. Possibly, the remains of the then built house are still to be found in the heart of the palace. Stadtholder William III bought the complex in 1673 and made it his Utrecht residence. It was an average-sized yet rich house, with beautiful gardens and hunting grounds. The architect was Maurits Post. In 1795 the complex became government property, after the expulsion of Prince William V. Louis Napoleon had it modernized and slightly extended; in 1815 William II received it as a present from the Government, including an extension and total transformation of the old house and gardens (architect Jan de Greef, landscape designer J.D. Zocher). Around 1900 a large modernization followed (architect, amongst others, Lucas Eberson). In the 1930s architects De Bie Leuvelink Tjeenk and A.J. van der Steur realized a completely new house for Princess Juliana and her husband Prince Bernard to the right of the old corps de logis, within the original building lines, which was also special because of the high quality of the movable furniture that had also been given as a present. In 2004 Prince and Princess died. Since then the Government Buildings Agency have been looking for a new function for the complex.