Munkeruphus (literally "Munkerup House") is a former country house located in

Munkerup Munkerup is a coastal district of Hornbæk-Dronningmølle in the north of Zealand, Denmark. It is located in Gribskov Municipality, two kilometres to the west of Dronningmølle and four kilometres east of Gilleleje. In 2009, Munkerup had a populati ...

now part of

Dronningmølle Dronningmølle () is a seaside resort town in Esbønderup parish, Gribskov Municipality in the Capital Region of Denmark, of eastern Denmark. Dronningmølle is located four kilometers west of Hornbæk, six kilometers east of Gilleleje and 22 kilo ...

–

Hornbæk Hornbæk () is a seaside resort town on the north coast of the Danish island of Sjælland, facing the Øresund which separates Denmark from Sweden. It is part of Helsingør Municipality and is located 12 km north-west of Helsingør, and is ...

, on the north coast of

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. A rare example of American influence in

Danish architecture Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

, the building now serves as an exhibition space.

History

Munkeruphus was built in 1916 for civil engineer Frederik Raaschou and his family by the two young architects Terkel Hjejle and Niels Rosenkjær. In 1958 it was acquired by artist and designer

Gunnar Aagaard Andersen Gunnar Aagaard Andersen (14 July 1919 – 29 June 1982) was a Danish sculptor, painter, designer and architect whose work belongs to the Concrete art movement. Early life and education Born in Ordrup to the north of Copenhagen, Aagaard Andersen a ...

and his wife. Aagaard had previously lived in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

from 1946 to 1951 where he had co-founded ''Groupe Espace'', a collaborative between artists and architects who worked with spatial art, and he made it the centre of an active artistic environment with many visiting colegees visiting from abroad. In 1986 it was purchased by the Capital Region Authority and subsequently listed by the Danish Heritage Agency. For a few years it was left empty but in the autumn of 1988 it was ceded to a foundation with the aim of transforming it into an exhibition space for changing exhibitions. It was renovated with support from private benefactors and opened the doors to its first exhibition on 26 August 1989.

Architecture

Munkeruphus was designed with inspiration from the Arts and Crafts Movement and American

Colonial Revival architecture The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archit ...

. It is a two-story, T-shaped structure with a horizontal board siding, topped by a shingled

hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

. The almost symmetrical main facade is nine bays long but the second window from each side and on both floors is omitted, save in the ground floor of the left hand side where a smaller window creates a small deviation from the dominating symmetry of the facade. The main entrance is through a double-leafed

French door A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security by ...

with a glass transom. On the north (rear) side, another wing has been designed to optimize views of the sea.

Park

Set back from the coastal road between

and

Gilleleje Gilleleje () is a fishing town and seaside resort on the north coast of the peninsula North Zealand, Denmark. The town is located at the northernmost point of the island of Zealand. It is one of the main towns of the Gribskov municipality in Re ...

, at the end of an unpaved driveway, the house is on a 16-hectare lot which consists of parkland with lawns, winding paths and many mature trees. The rear slopes reach all the way to the sandy beaches along the

Øresund Øresund or Öresund (, ; da, Øresund ; sv, Öresund ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width ...

and the park affords views of Nakkehoved and Hornbæk along the coast as well as Sweden on the other side of the water. There are also a number of outdoor sculptures on the premises.

Munkeruphus today

Munkeruphus is operated as a self-owning institution. It plays host to 5–6 exhibitions a year about art, crafts, design, architecture or other themes. It also serves as a venue for lectures and indoor as well as outdoor concerts. There is also a café which serves light lunch meals, cakes and hot and cold drinks in the ground floor of the rear wing.

References

External links