Hartekamp in Heemstede by Michel Sjollema

The complex of the historic Buitenplaats de Hartekamp is located on both sides of the Herenweg. Along the oldest site on which the house is located, the original border ditch is still on the south side, from the Herenweg to the Leidsevaart. On the west side, the Leidsevaart largely determines the border. On the north side are Huis te Manpad and the demolished Haag and Duin. The Binnenweg determines the border on the east side. The Overtuin has the original border locks on the south side.

On the site of the later country estate was in the 16th century a farmhouse with the name Thorenvliet, which was owned by the Haarlem family Van Berkenrode. From 1662 to 1666 the Amsterdam merchant Hendrik Zeegersz van de Camp was the owner. He changed the name to Hartencamp, according to tradition a reference to the deer that lived there and to his own surname (Camp). Camp expanded his property by buying Adriaan Pauw's land. Stepson Gilles inherited the farm and the land, but could not repay the debts and therefore sold the property to his brother-in-law in 1680, the poet Jacobus Heiblocq, who was the owner until 1687.

The history of the Hartekamp as an outdoor site starts in 1693. In that year, Johan Hinlopen, who earned his fortune as the postmaster of the Antwerp Postcomptoir, became the owner. De Leidsevaart, an important link in that postal route, bounded the back of the complex. Hinlopen commissioned the construction of a new house and the construction of a garden. In 1709 the Ha