Elswout, just south of Overveen, is one of the better-preserved 19th-century buitenplaatsen — the country estates that wealthy Amsterdammers built along the dunes when the city became unpleasant in summer. The current pink-stucco house dates from a thorough 1880s rebuild, but the park around it is older: serpentine paths through mature beech and oak, a small lake with an iron-girder bridge, a working ice house, an orangery, and an elaborate stone gatehouse on the road from Haarlem.
The grounds are owned by the State Forestry Service and free to enter from sunrise to sunset. The house itself is closed to the public except for occasional concerts and events. The park is at its best in autumn, when the beech avenues turn copper. Easily combined with a longer walk in the adjacent Zuid-Kennemerland National Park.