For over 100 years
Camping Buitenduin has been around since 1915 and is still in the hands of the same family. They proudly tell the story of its origin.
Our story starts in 1868
Our story starts in 1868 with Dirk Duin Sr., the great-great grandfather of the current owner Arjan Kroon.
In the year 1868 Dirk Duin Sr. buys the Korenmolen Kijkduin on the Molenweg in Schoorl, he does not work as a miller himself. His brother Jan and from 1878 his son Dirk Duin Jr. work as millers. In 1870 the Stolpboerderij was built next to the mill where Dirk Duin Jr. will live and work until 1936. According to tradition, since 1915 camping has been done on the meadow. In the beginning, the first campers, especially boy scout groups, set up their tents on the meadow, after which other forms of camping soon follow. As plumbing there is a well adjacent to the pasture and a toilet is above a cesspool.
1936- 2nd Generation
Dirk Pieter Duin takes over the grinding on the flour mill and the camping site from his father in 1936. At that time, the flour mill passed back into the hands of the municipality through a foundation, because the maintenance costs can no longer be paid for by grinding flour.
Before the start of the 2nd World War, the first tent houses were already on the site. Wooden decking with a wooden framework that is spanned with tent/canvas cloth. These tent houses are built every spring and taken down and stored in the autumn. During the war, the white cloth is painted with camouflage colors.
Dirk Pieter Duin died in 1954. Dirk Pieter’s half-sister, Wilhelmina Catherina Kroon-Duin, takes over the camping site together with her husband Adriaan Cornelis Kroon. From that date, the Kroon family is therefore the owner of the camping site. Adriaan Kroon also takes his installation company to 15 Molenweg. During this period, the canvas walls of the houses are replaced by wooden panels, but the houses are still demolished every autumn. From the early 1960s, the requirement to tear down houses disappears in the winter and the houses remain standing and often a real roof is also installed.
1975 – 3rd Generation
In 1966 Dirk Kroon takes over his father’s installation company. In 1975 Dirk Kroon and his wife Miep Kroon-de Visser took over the camping site. The houses are provided with electricity between 1975 and 1980. In 1980, a large new and sustainable toilet building is built on the large field and the concrete toilets (still on the cesspool) and washrooms can be removed. The technology used in the toilet block was way ahead of its time due to the creative and foresight of Dirk Kroon. For example, the toilet building had one of the first series with hanging toilets and the water was heated by solar collectors. After the construction of the toilet block, the houses will also be supplied with water and they will be connected to the sewer. In the 1990s, the Kroon family decided that the houses could no longer be sold or inherited, and gradually more space was created for tourist guests with tents, caravans or campers who stayed for a few days to several weeks.
2012 – 4th Generation
Arjan Kroon, the son of Miep and Dirk, has been working on the camping site since 2003 and takes over in 2012. The installation company is then sold. Miep and Dirk remain very involved.
Arjan and Ingrid (from 2017) bring the camping site to the 21st century in the field of automation and sustainable innovations such as solar panels on various roofs. In the winter of 2020-2021, the toilet block will be completely renovated and equipped with the latest gadgets, family rooms and options for people with a mild physical disability.
Over time, Kampeerterrein Buitenduin has been known as a family campsite par excellence, with a central location in Schoorl, surrounded by forest and with very committed and friendly owners. The Camping is a wonderful base for walks, cycling, mountain biking and other outdoor sports, but also for days at the beach, bulb fields and picturesque towns.