Bolenstein

Maarssen, Netherlands, Netherlands

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Bolenstein is a moated manor house along the Vecht River just north of Maarssen in Utrecht province, Netherlands, with origins as a late 14th-century (around 1340) fortified residential tower built by Dirck van Bole, from whom it derives its name meaning "Bole's stone house."

Recognized as a ridderhofstad in 1538, it was expanded southward in the 17th century under Willem van Zuylen van Nijevelt with a gatehouse, outbuildings, and an ornate wrought-iron gate added after 1765, achieving its neoclassical appearance by 1829 including a belvedere tower, clock, and weather vane.

Frequently changing hands through noble families like Van Lockhorst and Van Heeckeren before municipal purchase in 1942 for police use, it underwent 1960s restoration removing white plaster to reveal brickwork, now standing as a private Rijksmonument with sphinx-guarded entrance amid landscaped grounds.