Menkemaborg, Manor house in Uithuizen, Netherlands
Menkemaborg is a medieval-style manor house in Uithuizen, in the province of Groningen in the Netherlands, furnished with pieces, silverware, porcelain, and portraits from the 17th and 18th centuries. The house consists of a main building with side wings, surrounded by a moat and a large formal garden.
The building was erected in the early 17th century and was extensively remodeled around 1700 by the Alberda family, who commissioned elaborate interior decorations. In the 20th century it passed into state ownership and was opened to the public.
The gardens around the house follow a formal style with clipped hedges and symmetrical beds that was fashionable in the Netherlands in the 18th century. Walking through them gives a good sense of how these country estates were maintained and used.
The house is open most days but is generally closed on Mondays. It is worth setting aside enough time to see both the interior rooms and the garden without rushing.
One of the bedrooms contains a canopy bed made from Chinese silk damask, showing how highly Asian textiles were valued by Dutch merchants in the 17th and 18th centuries. Baroque wood carvings and mythological paintings on the mantels of the same room are among the rarest elements in the whole house.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
