Paleis Noordeinde

Urbika edited "changed category. it's an office for the royal family ;)"
2 years ago

Chris added this project

Noordeinde Palace is one of the four official palaces of the Dutch royal family. Located in The Hague in the province of South Holland, it has been used as the "working palace" for Queen Beatrix since 1984.

The palace originally started as a medieval farmhouse, which was converted into a spacious residence by the steward of the States of Holland, Willem van de Goudt in 1533. The original farmhouse's cellars can still be seen in the palace basement.

From 1566 to 1591, the palace had a different owner. After that it was leased, and in 1595, purchased by the States of Holland for Louise de Coligny, the widow of William of Orange, and her son Prince Frederik Hendrik. In recognition of William’s service to the nation, the States presented the building to his family in 1609.

Frederik Hendrik substantially enlarged the house, which was then known as the Oude Hof. He began by buying the surrounding plots of land. The architects Pieter Post and Jacob van Campen, who built Huis ten Bosch Palace in 1645, were among those involved in the alterations. The alterations included lengthening the main building and adding wings on either side, thus creating the characteristic H-form that is seen today.

After Frederik Hendrik died in 1647, his widow, Amalia van Solms, spent much of her time at the Oude Hof. Following her death in 1675, the house was more or less empty for many years. After the death of the Stadholder-King William III in 1702, it passed to King Frederick William of Prussia, a grandson of Frederik Hendrik’s.

In 1754, King Frederick the Great of Prussia sold his land-holdings in the Netherlands to Stadholder William V.

The son of Stadholder William V, who would become King Willem I, took up residence at the Oude Hof in 1792. But when the French invaded the Netherlands in 1795, during the French Revolutionary Wars, he and his family were forced to flee to England. The Oude Hof became the property of the Batavian Republic and hence state property, the status it has today.

2 years ago