Panoven Country Estate or Buitengoed de Panoven in the Netherlands is a well-preserved industrial heritage site. The former brick and tile factory from 1850 has been transformed into a unique location to stay the night. You can experience the rich history and heritage of its surroundings by taking an audio tour, learning how to make bricks the old-school way, going on a quest to find the Beavers, or searching for edible plants.

The Kruitwagen family believes every brick has its own special story to tell and would like to share the story from raw clay to bricks with its visitors.

Tour the heritage site through the eyes of Erna Kruitwagen, one of the owners of the estate. After the exploration and its exciting stories, you can relax at the restaurant De Herberg and enjoy a lovely stone-grill dinner, prepared with local organic produce. The estate is located at the crossing of nature reserves Liemers and the natural landscape of Gelderse Poort. Two features of the region are water and clay. The water has certainly given shape to the region, resulting in a beautiful river landscape, perfect for hiking and cycling trips.

Panoven Country Estate has a wide range of accommodations, allowing you to stay in one of the new, sustainable nature lodges or one of the comfort rooms in bed and breakfast Het Hutje. The cultural landscape will charm you with its mysterious stories that will stay with you forever.

Unique Features of the Estate

• The only round zigzag kiln in Europe.
• The only brick factory in the Netherlands with all the buildings and machines in very good condition.
• A unique archive of pictures and books from the entire coarse ceramic sector.
• An original biotope, including the brick factory, dikes, the Old Rhine, and the polder landscape. These elements are part of a National Programme called Delta works. This is a story about water management.

Brick-making History

The former brick factory has been in the possession of the Kruitwagen family for nearly one hundred years. The family has been known for having the knowledge of producing bricks for more than three hundred years. Up until 1983, the Panoven factory was in use for baking bricks in a traditional way. Unfortunately, Wim Kruitwagen, the present owner and last living brickmaker, had to stop production in 1982 due to the recession in the housing market. In the past years, the Kruitwagen family has transformed the brick factory into a well-maintained industrial heritage.

Being Responsible

A Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR, ‘MVO’ in Dutch) values how profit is made, not how much profit is made. The social aspect of management is important here. Panoven Country Estate is a good example when talking about CSR. They really care about visitors and contributors. By working with learning and care programs, they give everyone a chance to participate.

Recent years have shown a growing environmental awareness. We need nature. This awareness is also called Corporate Environmental Responsibility(CER, ‘LVO’ in Dutch), a philosophy followed by the Panoven Country Estate. The estate is located between recreation areas Breuly(a natural outdoor swimming facility) and Rijnstrangen (a campsite and river floodplain). These unique nature reserves are an important asset to the Panoven identity and the surrounding areas are very important to everything that goes on at the Estate.