Kasteel Van Schoonbeek

Belgium, Belgium

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Kasteel Van Schoonbeek, also known as the Waterkasteel van Schoonbeek, is a historic moated Renaissance manor house in the hamlet of Schoonbeek, part of the village of Beverst in the municipality of Bilzen, Limburg, Belgium, situated in the valley of the Demer river and protected by marshes and a surrounding moat.

First mentioned in 1333 when Daniel de Scoenbeke is recorded as owner, the estate was originally a smaller fortified house or castle farm belonging to the County of Loon, and its oldest structural core probably dates from the 16th century, with the present U‑shaped building mainly constructed in the 17th century in the Maasland (Meuse) Renaissance style, using red brick with limestone (Mergel) trim along cornices and window frames.

Over the centuries the castle changed hands among families such as de Cortenbacht, van Maastricht, de Méan de Beaurieux, Preston and de Renesse; in the second half of the 18th century it was bought by an Irish nobleman, the Earl of Preston, who had fled religious troubles in Ireland, and later by the de Renesse family, before being acquired in 1991 by Thierry de Hemricourt de Grunne, a member of a noble family with roots dating back to the 12th century, who still lives there today.