Resumen de Clingendael: an early example of a Le Nôtre style garden in Holland
In the summer of 1678 Susanna Doublet-Huygens (1637-1725) wrote a long letter to her brother Christiaan Huygens in Paris, in which, with great enthusiasm, she described the delightful days her whole family had spent on their estate of Clingendael on the outskirts of The Hague. Many letters would follow in the same vein, expressing the enjoyment of country life away from the crowded city and excitedly discussing the growth of trees, plants and flowers in Clingendael's new expansive garden. The design of this monumental garden layout can be seen clearly on a hand-coloured plan of Clingendael dated around 1685, the plan of which is still kept in the municipal archives of The Hague, among many other documents concerning Clingendael and its owners, the Doublet family.
