Laren: Artists' Colony and Affluent Gooi Village
Painters came for the heathland light in the late 19th century and never really left. Laren's reputation as an artists' colony endures through the Singer Museum, housed in the villa of American artist William Henry Singer Jr., exhibiting Laren School works alongside international art. Today this Gooi village of about 11,508 residents is one of the wealthiest municipalities in the Netherlands.
The Brink, a central green with surrounding villas and the Sint-Jansbasiliek, forms the village heart. The Laarder Wasmeer and surrounding heathland preserve the open landscape that first attracted the painters.
Laren's character is residential and quiet: expensive properties along tree-lined lanes, a small commercial centre on the Naarderstraat, and the annual Larense Kermis on the Brink. Hilversum is about 3 kilometres south, Amsterdam approximately 25 kilometres west.
Show more
Painters came for the heathland light in the late 19th century and never really left. Laren's reputation as an artists' colony endures through the Singer Museum, housed in the villa of American artist William Henry Singer Jr., exhibiting Laren School works alongside international art. Today this Gooi village of about 11,508 residents is one of the wealthiest municipalities in the Netherlands.
The Brink, a central green with surrounding villas and the Sint-Jansbasiliek, forms the village heart. The Laarder Wasmeer and surrounding heathland preserve the open landscape that first attracted the painters.
Laren's character is residential and quiet: expensive properties along tree-lined lanes, a small commercial centre on the Naarderstraat, and the annual Larense Kermis on the Brink. Hilversum is about 3 kilometres south, Amsterdam approximately 25 kilometres west.
Country selected
Region selected
City selected
