Haardijk 3

Haardijk 3, Zoelmond

In the middle of Zoelmond, a peaceful village in the Betuwe, where children play in the streets and people still care about each other, the country house is known locally as "The Monastery." The elementary school is two hundred meters away and the high school is only seven kilometers away. Buren, the most beautiful fortified town in the Netherlands, is four kilometers from Zoelmond and the much larger Culemborg, with train station, less than eight kilometers. Utrecht may only be a twenty-minute drive away, but the hustle and bustle of the Randstad is very far away here. The stately, state-monumental country house built in 1870 is screened at the front by several huge trees and a wrought-iron fence. At the enclosed side and back of the house, a lush 10,000-square-meter park garden unfolds. A true paradise with several garden rooms separated by tall beech hedges and a "castle wall" with entrance gate. In addition to monumental, centuries-old deciduous trees, there is a fruit garden of 900 m² including cherry, apple, pear and plum trees, almond and walnut trees, berry bushes of all shapes and sizes, a kitchen garden, wide lawns and mysterious corners. Under a giant weeping beech tree dangles a swing and the tree house is not lacking either. Children will have a great time here! Chickens scratch around in the flowerbeds, and when you look out over the estate a tremendous feeling of peace and freedom overwhelms you. The owners emphasize that the garden from which they eat has been organic for forty years; pesticides are not used.

The coach house has been stylishly converted by the current owners into a guest house with terrace, kitchen, living room with fireplace, a lovely bedroom with bathroom and sauna and fitness room upstairs. At the back of the garden - out of sight - are a robust, traditional barn, workshop with workbench and wood stove, wood storage and a second driveway.

The mansion itself has an almost square ground plan. On the first floor the living room with en suite dining room, library/study room, kitchen, pantry, laundry room and a cellar. A magnificent conservatory completes the whole. The entrance with vestibule opens to a long, marble hallway. An ornate staircase winds up to the first floor with five bedrooms and a large bathroom. Above, a huge attic under the beams, to which you can give any purpose - multiple bedrooms, a great master suite or a very spacious study. A staircase leads to a rooftop vantage point from which you can overlook the estate and much of the village and surrounding area.

The seclusion of the estate, in the middle of a village is unique. The almost original state of the house is special and a conscious choice of the current residents. They renovated it very carefully nine years ago and wanted the house to be able to show and tell its history. After all, time has given it that unique atmosphere and patina. The ornamental ceilings over four meters high, the marble in the hallways and the wooden floors in the living quarters, windows with interior shutters, the granite sink and old pump in the utility room, the romantic veranda behind the house with artful carvings and countless other authentic style features - it's all still there. That's what makes The Monastery what it is: a warm family home with a completely unique ambiance. A house to love and cherish.