The Zonneschuts, a family chronicle.

Sometimes a hobby can get a bit out of hand, can't it?

When I started the project of Huis ter Swinnendael I wanted to create a family and their servants who lived there in the year 1806. The idea is that it is easier and more fun to create a house and interior when you have the inhabitants of those rooms in mind. Does the lady of the house embroider or paint? Is the head of the family a military man, a politician or a filanderer? Is the house lived in by a young family or an older couple with no kids? choices, choices.

For my fictitious Country estate 'Huis ter Swinnendael' I created the Zonneschut family. An older couple who have older chl\ildren who no longer live at home. A couple who have retreated somewhat from public life because of all the troubles and turmoils of the revolutionary era at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century. Changes that also affects the relations within the family itself. The father is still a supporter of the Prince of Orange and the old republic while his oldest son and his daughter are democrats.

After writing a short bio of each family member I set to work on designing the house. and making and buying miniatures to fill the rooms. Progress on that you can follow on my other blog if you like:  link

But while designing the house and oming up with ideas for furnishings new thoughts crept in and muddled the clear familypicture I had created.
The house for examble is much older than this generation. Who built it? Who changed the decor in certain rooms and why? Who chose the family motto that adrons the familycrest? "Cum grano salis"
Who pulled some strings to ensure that this family of merchants and regents was elevated into the lower aristocracy? Who brought the babyhouse with her as part o her dowery?

Aaargh! A family is much more than the sum of the mmbers of her current generation. And a house that has seen multiple generations spent their summers at Swinnendael retains one or more memento's of those past generations. Be it in changes to the building, or pieces of furniture. If nothing else, a portrait in the family gallery.

So bit by bit I wrote a comprehensive family history. It's comprised of seven chapters. Each chapter will be about one generation and what roles they played in life. It is absolutely clear I hope that everyting related to the Zonneschut family and 'Huis ter Swinnedael' is total fabrication and a product of my imagination. The background of the stories are based on real historical events. But they never played any role in it because the famiyl, just as the house are works of fiction.

Then what about the paintings? They come (unless otherwise stated) from the digitised collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. link. I am allowed to use these for my own pleasure as long as i do not exploit them commercially. And that I do not. Just remember that they are not y property. And real persons depicted on them are totall unrelated to the Zonneschuts. :-)

I hope that you like reading these chapters and the characters I have created for my own pleasure.

Huibrecht