Huize Eyll

Huize Eyll is a unique property that belongs to the category of former grand country estates, surrounded by impressive park style grounds with its own vineyard and tall, beautiful trees.

Heritage Background

One of the foremost national heritage building in the Netherlands province of Limburg, Huize Eyll dates back to the late 1500’s with Dionysious Sutendael, later Lord Major of Maastricht, as its first owner. The original cellar vaults and supporting pillars are still in place today.



Originally the property consisted of the manor house, a horse carriage stable, a bakery and a large farm named the Hoeve de Croon.



Towards the end of the 1600's Huize Eyll became property of the van Eyll family who gave it its present name. Converted in the late 1700's by Allard Jan Joseph van Eyll, the mansion acquired its present form with its imposing and strictly symmetrical southern front.



In 1789 van Eyll engaged the Swiss master plasterer Petrus Nicolaas Gagini to decorate the formal reception hall with stuccos depicting personifications of the fine arts and landscape scenes of Italian and Limburg country life.



A final conversion and renovation took place in the early 1950's when the original entrance was moved to the east front, a new northern wing was added and a free standing building was built for a separate office floor and double garage.



In the 1980's Huize Eyll used to be the official residence of Her Majesty the Queen's Governor to the province of Limburg.

Gagini

Petrus Nicolaas Gagini (also: Pietro Nicolo; Petrus Nicolaus; Bissone, 13 January 1745 - Maastricht 1811) was a decorative plasterer from the Swiss canton of Ticino.

Nothing is known about Gagini's training. It may be assumed that he came from a family of plasterers. An image of Herakles and Omphale from around 1770 has been preserved in the Casa Gaggini in Bissone of his youth work.

Presumably from 1770 he worked north of the Alps. Between 1778 and 1807 Gagini worked in the Maastricht-Aachen-Eupen-Liège region. In 1791 he married Maria Catherina Jagers from Itteren in Maastricht.

The couple settled in Maastricht at the Eikelstraat / corner Houtmaas. In 1792 Gagini took the oath as a citizen of the Kremers craft. Between 1796 and 1800 Gagini traveled in the Northern Netherlands and spent some time in Leiden.

In Maastricht and Aachen, Gagini probably worked together with the architects Mathias Soiron and Jakob Couven.

By means of fluted pilasters with Ionic capitals, serrated beams, cymatia and palmette frieze, he achieved a classic layout of a room. Characteristic for Gagini's decorative stucco are the representations of Northern Italian-looking mountain landscapes and buildings. In addition, he made use of allegorical and mythological scenes, portrait medallions and floral garlands.

Comparison of Gagini's earlier work with his later work shows that he was fairly consistent in his choice of repertoire and that there was hardly any style development.

Gagini's work is one of the highlights of interior design in the Maastricht-Aachen-Liège region around 1800.

Design and © Copyright: Q Bolzoni 2021 - All Rights Reserved