Dronninggård

Dronninggård
Næsseslottet House seen from the south
General information
Architectural style	Neoclassical
Location	Rudersdal, Copenhagen, Denmark
Country	Denmark
Coordinates	55°48′24″N 12°26′04″E / 55.8065671153°N 12.4343867952°E / 55.8065671153; 12.4343867952
Completed	1783
Client	Frédéric de Coninck
Design and construction
Architect	Andreas Kirkerup

Næsseslottet, is an 18th-century country house located on the shores of Lake Furesøen at Lyngby north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The name, which translates as "Peninsula House", is a reference to the buildings setting on a narrow peninsula which extends from the east shore of the lake. The estate had previously been a royal farm known as Dronningegård and this name has long been associated with the locale.

Dronninggård was built in 1661 to manage the Crown's extensive holdings of farm land in the area. The farm belonged to the powerful Queen Sophie Amalie until her death in 1714, hence the name which translates as Queen's House. After that, the property was sold and changed hands several times but eventually it fell into a state of despair.

The main building stood as a ruin when the estate was acquired by Frédéric de Coninck in 1781??. Originally from the Netherlands, he had emigrated to Denmark in 1763 where he had set up a shipping company and made a fortune in foreign trade. He commissioned court architect Andreas Kirkerup to build a new house while the old building was rebuilt and converted into a farm.

Frédéric de Coninck was very fond of the estate and its surroundings. When he acquired the Danneskiold-Laurvig Mansion in Copenhagen (now known as Moltke's Mansion after a later owner) in 1788, to serve as his new residence during the winter season, he commissioned the painter Erik Pauelsen to create two large paintings and three overdoors with motifs of his Dronninggård estate.

In 1802, Frédéric de Coninck built an additional house on the land, Frederikslund, (Frederik's Grove), for his son Fritz (Frédéric) de Coninck. It was designed by the French architect Joseph-Jacques Ramée who also designed many other country houses in the area around that time, including Sophienholm and Øregård.

After de Coninck's death at Næsseslottet in 1811 both the shipping empire and the Dronninggård estate was passed on to his son but the times were changing. Denmark was experiencing hard times after the state bankruptcy in 1813 and after de Coninck's company went bankrupt in 1821, Dronninggård had to be sold. The following owners generally preferred to reside at Frederikslund while Næsseslottet fell into neglect. In 1898, it was acquired by a consortium and turned into a bathing hotel while most of the land was sold off in lots. However, the venue was no great success and in 1906 the property was sold to August Bagge, a book publisher.