ABSTRACT
The country house Doornburgh in Maarssen, purchased by Jacob de Chaves in 1723, was one of many rural estates on the Amstel and Vecht rivers bought by Portuguese Jews in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The owners would spend long summers there, sometimes as long as six months, or around three weeks if they were rather less well off. Their country seats were beautifully laid out, with delightful trelliswork featuring complex structures and astonishing gardens all round, with fountains and statuary. They often bore the signature of famous architects, including Daniël Marot and Philip Vingboon.
