Slot Zuylen

The history of Slot Zuylen dates back to the year 1250. At that time, Steven van Zuylen built a keep along the river Vecht, a square residential tower with walls 2.70 meters thick. The foundations were excavated during a restoration and are still visible in the terrace.

At the beginning of the 15th century, the tower was owned by Frank van Borssele (fourth husband of Jacoba van Beijeren). During the disputes between the Hooks and the Cods, the tower was destroyed by the inhabitants of Utrecht. They wanted more freedom for their city, while Van Borssele was a supporter of the central authority of the Dukes of Burgundy. After the destruction, nothing but a ruin remained for a century.

Around 1525, Count Willem van Rennenberg had a new castle built on the old ruins and provided it with a guardhouse. Shortly afterwards, the States of Utrecht included the castle in the official list of knights' houses. At the beginning of the 17th century, Adam van Lockhorst bought the castle as a summer residence. He wanted to emphasize his youthful status as a nobleman.

When Van Lockhorst died, the only heir was only four years old: his granddaughter Anna Elisabeth van Reede. Her mother had died; her father had remarried to his niece, who had a son from a previous marriage: Hendrik Jacob van Tuyll van Serooskerken wanting to keep the assets in the family, when Anna Elisabeth was thirteen years old he sent her into marriage with his cousin and f Hendrik Jacob. Through this marriage in 1665 the castle became the property of the Van Tuyll van Serooskerken family, remaining so until 1951.

 For about two centuries, Slot Zuylen remained virtually unchanged. Thanks to good contacts, it was spared from the disaster of 1672, when many other castles were destroyed by the French. In 1752, Diederik Jacob van Tuyll van Serooskerken commissioned architect Jacob Marot to carry out a major renovation. According to the fashion of his time, the medieval castle was to become a country house in the French style.

The castle was given a U-shape: the outer wall was demolished and the moat filled in, turning the courtyard into a square. To achieve symmetry, a left wing was added. A new entrance on the ground floor leads to the main floor via one of the marble staircases. The addition of a gallery meant that it was no longer necessary to go from one room to another. After the 1752 reconstruction, no major architectural changes were made. Those who visit Slot Zuylen today think they are in the 18th century.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the various generations of castle dwellers played a leading role in the social life of Zuilen village. Not only was the baron tenant and employer, but also mayor at times. The baroness was very charitable. In 1900, the villagers joyfully welcomed the new lord of the castle, after an absence of almost twenty years.

Until 1951, the family Van Tuyll van Serooskerken remained the owner of the castle. The last residents transferred the castle, the garden and many of the furnishings to the Slot Zuylen Foundation, with the aim of maintaining the property as a whole. Maintenance and personnel costs had become too high for a private residence. For more than fifty years, the castle was open to the public as a museum. In 1954, the municipality of Zuilen was dissolved and annexed partly to Utrecht and partly to Maarssen.

Now housed inside the former carriage house, the museum café serves fair trade coffee and tea, organic juices, baked goods, and a lunch menu featuring local specialties and produce from the castle garden. With several walking and biking trails passing along the carriage house, the museum cafe is a lovely place where everyone is invited to relax.