Foundation of Renswoude
The wealthy Maria Duyst van Voorhout (1662 – 1754), Vrijvrouwe van Renswoude, left almost her entire fortune to three orphanages in Utrecht, Delft and The Hague. She determined that gifted orphan boys should be trained internally in artistic and technical subjects.
The regents of the Utrecht Stadsambacht children's home, now the Centraal Museum, had this house built for this purpose between 1756 and 1762, after a design by Joan Verkerk. The purpose of the Foundation is explained in lines of poetry on the white marble stone in the middle of the natural stone facade. The Rococo interior reaches its peak in the regent's room, of which the authenticity, size and quality are unparalleled in the Netherlands.
foundation of Renswoude