Étienne van Zuylen van Nyevelt owner of Castle de Haar
Personal life
Van Zuylen was born in Saint-Étienne, near Nice, on 16 October 1860, a member of the old Dutch Van Zuylen van Nievelt noble family; he was the 3rd Baron van Zuylen van Nyevelt van de Haar. His father, Gustave, was a diplomat and his grandfather, Jean-Jacques was a former mayor of Bruges. On 16 August 1887, Van Zuylen married Hélène de Rothschild, daughter of Salomon James de Rothschild of the Rothschild banking family of France, in Paris. They had two sons, Egmont and Hélin. Hélin was killed in a car accident in 1912, and Egmont worked as a diplomat; his eldest child was Parisian socialite Marie-Hélène de Rothschild.
In 1890, Van Zuylen inherited the ruined De Haar Castle and set about restoring it. Financed by Rothschild money and directed by Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers, work started in 1892 and took 20 years.Van Zuylen received recognition with appointments as an officer of the Legion of Honour, and as a knight of the Order of Leopold.Van Zuylen died in Nice on 8 May 1934.