This article discusses the architecture of Dutch holiday homes built between 1918 and 1940. It analyses how these houses relate to their natural surroundings and to idealized conceptions of holiday life. The study is based on contemporary literature on the design of holiday homes and on a close reading of several architectural examples. In the Netherlands the economic growth of the 1920s, the introduction of summer holidays and the increasing popularity of spending leisure time outdoors contributed to the growing demand for holiday retreats in the woods or moorlands, near the sea, rivers or lakes. Many architects responded to this phenomenon. They designed holiday houses and published books or attractive portfolios on the subject. Local authorities also addressed the new development by establishing regulations for the construction of holiday houses in delicate, natural surroundings. In a densely populated country such as the Netherlands, building in a natural environment often led to a conflict of interests. Stimulating the population to seek outdoor leisure tended to spoil the natural surroundings. By granting temporary building permissions, authorities hoped to keep things under control and be able to reverse unwelcome developments in the future. Several well-known senior publicists on the subject of holiday homes, such as Van der Kloot Meijburg, Leliman and Sluyterman, inspired Dutch architects to design holiday houses that responded to their natural surroundings. Especially Van der Kloot Meijburg had a considerable impact on younger generations of architects, as well as on contemporary construction firms. His urge was to build in a contemporary but rurally inspired idiom, in which ‘honesty’ and ‘modesty’ were considered important values. Van der Kloot Meijburg’s ideas seem to have inspired numerous examples of holiday homes of the period. These houses often resembled small farms, stables or cottages. They were made of wood and had a thatched roof and sparse, small windows. These small houses merged nicely ...