Gunterstein Castle

Gunterstein Castle is a castle in Breukelen, on the river Vecht, that was the former home of the rich Dutch widow Magdalena Poulle. She bought the property and associated title after the former castle and stronghold was destroyed by the French in the Disaster Year Rampjaar 1672.

History

The castle was built in 1681 on the foundations of an earlier castle, by the architect Adriaan Dortsman, dedicated to Madame de Gunterstein et de Thienhoven. This book contains one of the earliest pictures of a Dutch orangerie with hothouses, and was highly influential on later botanists and wealthy garden owners such as Agnes Block and George Clifford III, who also sought to grow unusual plants and record them in albums.
Today, Gunterstein is still home to descendants of Magdalena Poulle. The surrounding park which is open to the public, is protected as a rijksmonument, as well as all of the older structures around it.