GARDEN DESIGN IN THE NETHERLANDS 187 



an hour, each garden touching its neighbour, then came a break of a few 

 miles, only to be continued again for several hours." Haarlem was connected 

 with Amsterdam by a line of small country seats, and from Alkmaar to The 

 Hague stretched a long string of picturesque estates. 



It seems to have been the ambition of every owner to have his garden 

 engraved, and these engravings, together with the surveys prepared to show 

 the drainage of the polders, enable us to study the plans of practically every 

 country seat in the North of Holland. 



In 1732 Rademaker published a delightful series of engravings of the 

 Dutch Maison de plaisance,^ each surrounded by its canal, crossed by little 

 bridges variously treated in design and flanked by massive gate piers. A 

 forecourt generally leads to the plain severe brick house, or in its absence, an 

 alley of limes serves the same purpose. There are many quaint gazebos with 

 an endless variety in the shape of their roofs. The hedges are invariably 

 cut low to permit a good look-out over the surrounding scenery, and very 

 pleasant it must have been to survey the long panorama of quaint little 

 country places on the canal banks from the deck of a gaily-painted yacht. 



To the north of Haarlem, in a district known as the " Kennemerlant," 

 a number of wealthy merchants from Amsterdam had their country seats 

 during the prosperous times of the eighteenth century. Many of these 

 still remain, but few of their gardens escaped the general spoliation of the 

 early nineteenth century. They were mostly laid out in the style of Le Notre, 

 though of necessity upon a very modified scale. Their plans and a splendid 

 series of small engravings were published at Amsterdam by Hendrik de Leth.- 

 The houses as a rule are not large, but are often beautifully decorated and 

 are built with an air of comfort, although they were only intended for 

 summer use. Here and there we may come across some remnant of a scheme 

 of avenues, some forecourt, or oftener still a gazebo or orangery that has 

 escaped the general destruction. A mile beyond Haarlem, at Mannepall, is 

 a typical small country seat. Here the house is approached by a short drive, 

 through a quincunx of limes, flanked upon either side by out-buildings, one 

 the orangery, the other used as stables ; an ornamental bridge leads to the 

 square built house surrounded by a broad moat, and beyond and on either 

 side are parterres. 



1 Rhynlands Fraaiste Gezichsten. Abraham Rademaker, Amsterdam, 1732. 

 ^ Het zegepralent Kennemerlant. Hendrik de Leth, Amsterdam, 1730. 



