Hofwijck

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[edit] Hofwijck

De groote webb is af; en ’t Hof genoegh beschreven:
Eens moet het Hofwijck zijn. wie kent den draed van ’t leven,
Hoe kort hij is, hoe taeij? de snaer die heldste luijdt
Scheidt d’eerste menighmael van leven en van Luijt,
Verkracht en over-reckt, of met der tijd versleten.
[...]
'k Wil Hofwijck, als het is, 'k wil Hofwijck,
als 't zal wezen, de vreemdeling doen zien,
de Hollander doen lezen.

Hofwijck was built in 1642, on a commission by Constantijn Huygens. Huygens employed the architect Jacob van Campen after he was introduced to him in Haarlem. Jacob van Campen was helped with the design by Pieter Post.

The estate was created after the idea of "a harmonious piece of paradise on earth, with a garden in God’s image and likeness."

After a couple of years as a widower, Huygens buys a piece land in Voorburg, and he commissions Hofwijck to be build. Hofwijck is inaugurated in 1642 in the company of friends and relatives. Here Huygens hopes to escape the activities of The Hague, which is indicated by the name of the house: Hof (=Court) Wijck (=avoid). Its Latin name is Vitaulium.

[edit] External links

• Hofwijck Museum, direct link to story on
• Hofwijck, poem on
• Hofwijck, a documentary
• Hofwijck, an explanation of the poem and the house (nl)

See also: Constantijn Huygens, Dutch Golden Age, Voorburg