Estate
History
Fraeylemaborg is the result of seven centuries of habitation. In the 13th century, the first owners built a stone house. You can still see that from the monastic bricks in the kitchen, the oldest part of the borg. The simple stone house first became a longhouse and then, around 1500, fortified with walls, towers and a moat. From the Fraeylemaborg, the Rengers family managed to hold the power in the area for many years.
In the late 17th century, Henric Piccardt and Anna Elisabeth Rengers remodelled the borg and constructed an imposing park in the style of the French Baroque. They borrowed a hefty sum from King-Stadholder William III and his wife Queen Mary II Stuart to fund their plans. The portraits of the royal couple still hang in the borg.
Family
At the end of the 18th century, the borg was purchased by Hendrik de Sandra Veldtman from Groningen. He renovated the building according to the latest fashion, creating thethe form we recognise today. The new owner removed the towers and wall and had the facade tightened. In the park, elements of the French Baroque were retained, but the English landscape style began to dominate. The Hoge Berg, the whimsical pike pond, winding paths and new species of trees from other parts of the world appear. . Well-known garden architects and landscapers work on the park, such as John David Zocher snr., George Anton Blum and Lucas Pieters Roodbaard.
From the De Sandra Veldtman family, the estate inherits to the Thomassen à Thuessink van der Hoop family. They add “van Slochteren” to their name, making it one of the longest surnames in the Netherlands. Because the estate is not sold in almost 200 years but inheritted, the interconnectedness of borg, interior and estate remains intact.
A working estate
Still, all sorts of things were happening on the estate during that time. A lot of hard work. There were vegetable gardens, orchards with fruit, greenhouses, a small cattle farm, and flowers and plants were grown. The sale of wood was an important source of income. Occasionally the park was opened to hikers and events. At the beginning of the 20th century, for example, there were Christian celebrations on Ascension Day, which drew thousands of people.
Generations followed each other, staff and tenants came and went. A way of life, so common in the years before World War II, was maintained until it became impossible. Louise and Jeanne, the two daughters of the last owner, sold the estate to the Gerrit van Houten Foundation in 1972. In 1975, the estate opened as a museum
