Fraeylemaborg, Groningen Province, The Netherlands

4folieske4 5:00 PM Mar 9, 2010

Estate and country-park
Behind the castle is a stretch of garden, rather narrow but long. We were on a campingholiday when we discovered this beauty. The Fraeylemaborg in Slochteren, dating from the middle ages, is situated on a country-park that dates back mainly to the 19th century. The park, after a design partly of G.A. Blum and L.P. Roodbaard, is laid out in English landscape-style. In this, remains of the previous formal baroque outlay have been saved, like the characteristic middle axis. On the front terrain stands the 'schathuis' in which is now established a restaurant. On the opposite site stands the coach-house. Behind the coach-house stands the orangerie where tropical plants survive in winter. The borg was founded in the middle ages as stone-house and developed till an impressive building with influential inhabitants The last nobles, the family Thomassen à Thuessink van der Hoop van Slochteren, sold the borg in 1972 to the Gerrit van Houten Foundation. After restoration the Fraeylemaborg became a museum. In addition to being style-rooms, rooms are also used for exhibitions. The Large Hall is used for concerts and receptions, while the Small Hall is in use as wedding-hall. Through the ages the residents of the Fraeylemaborg have expanded and embellished the house. The same they did with the park around the house. Exotic trees were planted and special plants imported. The layout of the front terrain and park went through different styles. The country estate is now an in five centuries grown culture-historic entity, unique in the north of our country. It is an impressive example of the English-landscape-style. The country estate measures at the moment about 26 hectares. Together with the Overbos, (situated north of the Hoofdweg, the deepened provincial motorway and the harbour), it has an very elongated shape. In the middle ages the grounds in Slochteren were subdivided in narrow long stretched out farms, perpendicular to the main way and therefore for the park no other shape was possible. The surrounding landscape is open and the high trees from the forest show from far were the Fraeylema is situated.

5Indiaphil 5:00 PM Aug 8, 2012

a little gem in North Holland
This castle is well worth a visit. It is very small, but all the rooms have been restored back to what they would have looked like in the past and were fully furnished, decorated etc. It did feel like real castle, rather than as a museum which can be the case in these places. The castle has a very nice little park which makes for a beautiful walk. One of the old barns has been converted in to a cafe, where they give you very good value for the money and it is of course a lovely place to sit and watch the castle (a least if you can sit outside). The staff at the castle and in the shop were all very cheerful and really gave the impression that they cared about the place and it's visitors. A must see place, if you're in the area.