Schonauwen is a former castle in the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 province of Utrecht

Utrecht (province)

Utrecht is the smallest province of the Netherlands in terms of area, and is located in the centre of the country. It is bordered by the Eemmeer in the north, Gelderland in the east, the river Rhine in the south, South Holland in the west, and North Holland in the northwest...

. It is located on the southern outskirts of the town of Houten

Houten

Houten is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. The expected population in 2015 will be 50,000. The municipality consists of the following towns:* Houten * 't Goy * Schalkwijk...

, surrounded by new buildings.

Until the end of the 18th century, Schonauwen was a separate heerlijkheid

Heerlijkheid

A heerlijkheid was the basic administrative and judicial unit in rural areas in Dutch-speaking lands before 1800. It originated in the feudal subdivision of government authority in the Middle Ages. The closest English equivalents of the word are "seigniory" and "manor"...

(fiefdom). When the country was divided into municipalities by the French, Schonauwen was added to the municipality of Houten, but it became a separate municipality in 1818. In 1857 it was merged back into Houten.

The heerlijkheid and municipality covered an area of about 6.8 km², and had about 240 inhabitants in the middle of the 19th century.