BLARICUM, NETHERLANDS

Blaricum is a municipality and village in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. It is part of the region of Gooiland. It is known for its many monumental farm buildings, local cafes and restaurants, nature, several annual community events and extensive up-market residential areas.¹

According to dutchnews.nl, Blaricum is currently the most expensive place to live in the Netherlands and is situated about 30 kilometers south of Amsterdam.

Historically, the municipality of Blaricum originated from a free settlement, consisting of a hundred or so humble dwellings. In 1388 Blaricum was still a simple neighborhood without its own village committee. The existence of medieval "Gooiland" consisted fore mostly of farming, with cattle on common pastures, running of sheep on the moors, grass cakes for cattle kept in stables and likewise sowing and reaping of the small fields. For many centuries agrarian production was the most important existence in the Gooise villages. Blaricum grew into a nice village. To retain all this beauty, the heart of Blaricum was declared as protected within the meaning of the Law of Monuments in 1967. Around 1875 the discovery of Gooi started with Blaricum, through which the evolution of the society totally changed. The way of life for non-Blaricummers was different to those of the original population. Around Blaricum in many places the moors and narrows changed into delightful villa construction. The earliest drastic changes to the social structure date from 1973. The building up of the Oostermeent decreased the number of farms.²

¹Blaricum. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaricum. Accessed April 2016.

²The History of Blaricum. http://www.doggedresearch.com/vanblaricum/holland.htm. Accessed April 2016.

Banner image. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gem-Blaricum-OpenTopo.jpg. Accessed April 2016.