Estate Baest
Estate Baest was declared the most beautiful and monumental estate in Brabant in 1997. It covers approximately 500 hectares, of which 262 hectares are protected as a National Monument.
The history of the estate dates back over 800 years, with the oldest deed of ownership dating from 1225 when the estate belonged to the Abbey of Berne. From 1317, the Abbey of Tongerlo becomes the owner, and in 1559, it comes under the ownership of the Diocese of 's-Hertogenbosch. After the Peace of Münster, many church and monastery properties were sold to private individuals. Since then, the estate has always been in private hands. For the last 250 years, it was owned by one family. In 2008, it was transferred to a foundation with the crucial goal of protecting and preserving the estate as a National Monument and Historic Country Estate.
For more …
Estate Baest was declared the most beautiful and monumental estate in Brabant in 1997. It covers approximately 500 hectares, of which 262 hectares are protected as a National Monument.
The history of the estate dates back over 800 years, with the oldest deed of ownership dating from 1225 when the estate belonged to the Abbey of Berne. From 1317, the Abbey of Tongerlo becomes the owner, and in 1559, it comes under the ownership of the Diocese of 's-Hertogenbosch. After the Peace of Münster, many church and monastery properties were sold to private individuals. Since then, the estate has always been in private hands. For the last 250 years, it was owned by one family. In 2008, it was transferred to a foundation with the crucial goal of protecting and preserving the estate as a National Monument and Historic Country Estate.
For more information about this special estate, continue reading below. If you want to know more specifically about the Theresia Chapel on Estate Baest, look here.
Estate Baest serves as an exclusive wedding and meeting venue. You can also take a guided tour through the beautiful park-like garden. Additionally, on the estate, you'll find the natural burial ground "Bos van de Heilige Geest" (Forest of the Holy Spirit).
Estate Baest embodies everything one imagines in an estate: an imposing white country house set in a park-like environment with monumental trees, gardens modeled after the eighteenth century, and a unique group of outbuildings. Beyond the enclosure lies a landscape with old avenues where the streams of the Kleine and Grote Beerze meander through, flowing together from the estate towards 's-Hertogenbosch. Pine forests and deciduous forests alternate with fields and meadows.
In the 18th century, attention turned to landscape architecture. In England, landscape architects focused on designing agriculture and landscape as one ensemble, including farms, stables, fields, meadows, game and wood hedges, vegetable gardens, and orchards forming a cohesive whole in a park-like structure of hedges, avenues, streams, winding paths, ponds, sightlines, and flower gardens. Few of these so-called ornamental farms can still be found in the Netherlands, and Estate Baest preserves this old English design.
In the first half of the sixteenth century, Huis te Baest burned down. It was rebuilt on medieval foundations in 1549 and renovated in the 18th century in a classicist style. Next to the mansion is a beautiful garden. The estate boasts many monumental trees, including a 500-year-old summer oak and five oaks planted in 1790 in front of Huis te Baest.
In 2010, the estate was transferred to the Stichting Landgoed Baest, which manages it. The management focuses on landscape quality, biodiversity, and sustainability, collaborating closely with Brabants Landschap, Waterschap De Dommel, Bosgroep Zuid, the municipality of Oirschot, and the province of North Brabant.
