Rhododendron valley Gooilust

Gooilust estate at its best

s-Graveland - Rich people in the posh Gooi area trump each other with expensive cars and large villas. It was no different a century ago. Wealthy merchants derived their status from their country estate. Who had the prettiest? Frans Blaauw knew how to impress people. He was renowned for his collection of exotic trees and animals. In 1920 you could admire kangaroos, bison, wildebeest, zebras, llamas, antelopes and aviaries with special birds at the Gooilust estate. The animals are no more. What has remained in the little village of 's Graveland is a beautiful park forest in English landscape style. In May and June, the colorful rhododendron valley blooms - with almost a hundred different varieties of rhododendrons in all colors - a unique place to walk through.

Rontom Bedroogen: Cheating around

The history of Gooilust goes back to the 17th century. The first owner felt that he had been wronged when allocating his plot and called his country estate 'Rontom Bedroken'. A new owner, an Amsterdam merchant, renamed the country estate to 'Gooilust'. In 1777 Gerrit Corver Hooft, director of the Dutch West India Company, became the owner of the estate and ordered the construction of the country house. The name of the nearby Corversbos woods still reminds of the family.

Through an inheritance, the estate comes into the hands of Lady Louise Six, who married Frans Ernst Blaauw in 1890.

Blaauw Forest

As an amateur biologist, Blaauw had great ideas. He collected plants, trees and animals from all over the world. The more exotic, the better. Due to its striking appearance, Gooilust is nicknamed 'The 'Blaauw Forrest'. His wife, however, is less charmed by Blaauw's passion for collecting and their marriage deteriorated. As a culmination of their quarrels, Blaauw even goes so far as to have his wife admitted as a mentally ill person. As a counter move, the damsel Six bequeaths the estate to Natuurmonumenten. Blaauw inherits nothing...