De Wielewaal opens to public this year

Estate Wielewaal Pic credit: Studio040

The former Philips family estate in Eindhoven, which remained closed to the public for nearly a century except for occasional visits, will finally open its gates this year. Natuurmonumenten will organise excursions to De Wielewaal and assist in managing the estate’s natural surroundings.

A former gardener’s house on the property will eventually serve as the nature organisation’s visitor centre. For now, a high fence continues to keep curious onlookers out of the estate, which spans an area roughly twice the size of the amusement park De Efteling. This historic site was home to Frits Philips from 1934 until his passing in 2005.

In the latter half of this year, much of the estate—including its five mansions—is expected to become accessible to the public. However, discussions are ongoing about whether the park will be closed at night. “There is a fence around it, after all,” noted Alderman Rik Thijs.

Three years ago, the municipality paid €29 million to the estate’s then-owner, textile entrepreneur Marc Brouwers.

Mysterious

When the gates open, anyone can go see for themselves what the place looks like. “It’s mysterious,” Thijs says of the building where gardener once lived. “For example, there used to be a maze. We want to restore that, maybe in a contemporary way.”

Eventually, the intention is to convert the former gardener’s house into a visitors’ center for Natuurmonumenten. “Eindhoveners are eager to come up here,” says Jasper Kuperus of Natuurmonumenten. “The magic is that a very prominent Eindhoven resident lived here. He marked this out as the location for his ‘me-time,’ time for himself. It’s magical because it’s actually never been accessible.”

Guide

The municipality leases the former gardener’s house to Natuurmonumenten. The center has room for three permanent employees and about a hundred volunteers. The visitor center will be one of the entrances to visit the Wielewaal. Visitors can go there for information about plants and animals that live on the estate or to join a guided walk and get information about the estate.

Plans

Natuurmonumenten has a lot of experience managing visitor centers in nature reserves. It will be the first time the nature organization has been in “the inhabited world. The plans will be worked out in the coming months. The municipality and Natuurmonumenten want to open the visitor center next spring.

Source: Studio040

For Eindhoven News: Chaitali Sengupta.

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