Hofwijck: Seventeenth Century Escapism

The excursion to Hofwijck as part of the Palatium Summer School was the first one to take us to a residence that wasn’t designed in an urban setting such as the Markiezenhof, Breda and the residences of The Hague. It takes a bit of imagination to see this house and its gardens in they way that they were intended, as a place to escape the pressures of the court. The urban sprawl surrounding it and the railway that cuts through the once carefully conceived garden detract from the experience. The name of the house, Hofwijck, indicates it’s original function ‘Hof’ means court, and ‘wijck’ means as much as evade or escape, the court in question is that of the Princes of Orange in The Hague. This little escape from court was designed for, and partly by, Constantijn Huygens who was secretary for Princes Frederick Henry and William II.

In addition to his diplomatic skills Huygens was talented as a musician and poet. The house and garden were designed by Jacob van Campen, who also designed the Mauritshuis and the church in Renswoude. It is clear that Huygens Van Campen worked well together as there were many ongoing projects wherein they were involved such as work on Noordeinde palace and the scheme and overall design of the wonderful decorations of the Oranjezaal. The Dutch classicist style is based on proportions and principles set out by Vitruvius and is heavily influenced by the work of Andrea Palladio. Something quite unique about the house and garden is that its design and proportion is based on the human figure in which the house forms the head of the body which is marked out in the various paths and hedges of the garden.

Hofwijck was later used by the son of Constantijn, Christiaan Huygens yet another talented polymath from this family. Christiaan was a famous mathematician, astronomer, scientist, and horologist. He invented the pendulum clock in 1656 and discovered the rings of Saturn and its moon Titan using a telescope he invented. It isn’t surprising therefore that the items on display relate mainly to these two great figures. This does mean however that the building is more like a museum than a house, with display cases and text panels in lieu of beds and furniture on the upper floors.

What one sees is a house that has been heavily restored set within part of a reconstructed garden that is quite abruptly intersected by a train station and a road, this must rank as one of the most easily accessible country houses. The building has been brought back to what it might have looked like in the seventeenth century based on all the available records. It’s a shame that the paraphernalia necessary for the house to become a museum seem to have been installed as an afterthought. Within the sparsely decorated spaces where proportion and order rule things like plug sockets, radiators, latex paint and light rails stick out a bit. Surely in a house that hasn’t aged historically and where there is so much reconstruction there should be scope for using a slightly more atmospheric approach to the display.

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