“The guests here are very keen on talking to me and asking garden-specific or historical questions. And I’m always happy to take the time to answer and make them feel welcome, as I’m so passionate about the garden myself,” he says. He also occasionally hosts courses and guided tours, although maintaining the garden is a full-time job on its own.
A piece of living history
Lauritz de Thurah built Gammel Holtegaard to serve as his own residence in 1756, but passed away just three years later. Since then, many owners came and went, the Baroque went out of style, and the garden was eventually lost.
Eventually, a private fund assumed permanent ownership of the place, and in 2003, the garden was recreated after years of careful work, which involved studying old paintings and conducting an archeological dig to determine the exact look and location of certain features. Ironically, this makes the current carbon copy older than the original garden, which most likely did not exist for long after de Thurah’s passing.