Voorburg and the Huygensmuseum Hofwijck...

Voorburg is the next 'village' over from Rijswijk. Once - and maybe not so long ago - these would have been villages separated by farmland. Now they are all part of the greater Den Haag metropolitan area. But the heart of the villages remains. The part of Rijswijk I like best - and posted about early on - is the little shopping area centered on the old church. In Voorburg, a short tram ride away, there is an almost intact shopping street of old buildings set quietly off the main road.

On Herenstraadt in Voorburg

On Saturdays there is a market in a leafy green lane at one end of the shopping area...

At the other end of Herenstaadt, is a charming building and garden (somewhat overwhelmed by the modern railway station), now the Huygensmuseum Hofwijck. The country house was built by Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687) as a retreat from the busy court life in Den Haag. Huygens was a poet, a scientist, a composer, father of five and secretary to two Princes of Orange. His famous scientist son, Christiaan Huygens, continued to live and work at Hofwijck.

I have been curious about the number of buildings in the Netherlands constructed on water. How do they prevent 'rising damp'?? (Venice must have the same issue). The musty smell in the ground floor (the kitchen) of Hofwijck suggests that it is a problem. 

The design proportions of Hofwijck are classical, mathematical in their precision - a deliberate challenge to the ornate Dutch architecture exemplified in the first photo...

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