Inside the 625-square-foot rooms are parterres planted with spring bulbs, followed in summer by herbs, lavender, roses and peonies. The beds are bordered in boxwood. The openings that lead from room to room are clipped to give the appearance of large free-standing architectural door frames.  In one room, one of the hedged walls is cut in a low semicircle, creating an open view of the moat and a large circular sculpture by the Dutch sculptor Ad Dekkers.  “We love sculpture, but did not want a sculpture garden,” Mrs. Eyck said of the sculptures throughout the garden.  The Eycks are well-known in Dutch art circles for their exceptional contemporary art collection. They said that sculpture should blend into the garden and be fully integrated. “In our lives, art and nature go hand in hand,” Mrs. Eyck said.  They also appreciate understatement. The most striking example of this is a bronze tree made by the Italian artist Giuseppe Penone. Hidden away in a beech grove, it is at first glance almost indistinguishable from the other trees. The artist had wanted to place the tree on the open lawn but the Eycks opted for something more subtle. Today, a small pathway winds through the woods and only the most observant visitor can distinguish the artist’s tree from the natural ones.  When they purchased the property, a ramshackle building served as tool shed, henhouse (the couple raises chickens) and orchid room. Gradually, it grew even more dilapidated and required renovating. At first, the Eycks considered rebuilding the shed exactly as it was but after more thought, they decided there was an opportunity to build a contemporary structure juxtaposing new architecture with old.  Their daughter, Zsa Zsa Eyck, an art dealer in Amsterdam, suggested that the new building should incorporate a gallery to house part of their art collection and be a place to hold occasional exhibitions. When they approached the Dutch architect Wiel Arets and explained what they wanted — a space with room for a gallery, a henhouse, a greenhouse for orchids and a tool shed — he was, as Mrs. Eyck remembers, “a little surprised but also delighted as he, too, loves chickens.”  The result was Hedge House, a minimalist pavilion built in 2001 that fits perfectly into its surroundings. It may be the only art gallery in the world where one can see orchids growing in a room cantilevered over the main art gallery and where a glass-walled chicken house occupies a triangular space at one end.  The pavilion, like the garden, is a space where art and nature are seamlessly integrated. “In our garden,” Mrs. Eyck said, “never would a tree be sacrificed to make a place for art.”
The garden of Wijlre castle, a 17th-century castle near Maastricht in the Netherlands, is considered one of the “top eight” gardens in Europe.