Alice Laura la Cour & Jens Kraft Dinesen

Jens Kraft Dinesen (1864-1916) was born on September 21, 1864, in Copenhagen and graduated as a forestry candidate in 1889. In 1895, Jens took over the lease of the main estate Kragerupgaard and its outlying farm, Rugskov. It was not until 1910 that he inherited Kragerup Estate from his uncle and stepfather, after whom he was named. Jens was deeply invested in the estate, the forest, and the livestock. He managed the forest and purchased several small properties along the estate's western boundary, where he began planting. At one point, his cattle herd was considered the most valuable in the country.

Jens Kraft Dinesen and Alice Laura la Cour (1882-1933) were married on April 2, 1902. Jens was a kind, understanding, and helpful employer. Both he and Alice had a refined taste and knowledge of art. In 1912, they restored Kragerup Estate, modernizing the old building, garden, and park.

Alice was the daughter of Lauritz Ulrik la Cour, the Danish Vice-Consul in Edinburgh, a merchant and shipbroker who owned several coal mines in Scotland, and her mother was Alice Maria Elam. Alice was born on July 12, 1882, in Edinburgh and moved to Denmark in 1896, where she lived for three years with her aunts in Randers. She returned to Denmark in 1901 and married Jens the following year.

Jens passed away at the age of 52 on April 5, 1916, from pneumonia in Copenhagen. As the couple had no children, Kragerup Estate passed to Jens’ brother Axel Wilhelm Dinesen.

After Jens' death in 1916, Alice inherited all the interior furnishings from Kragerup, which she took with her to Rungsted. There, she built Rungstedgaard, a replica of Kragerup Estate. Consequently, Kragerup Estate stood almost empty. Alice married again in May 1922 to the artist Peter Hougaard. She died in Copenhagen on January 26, 1933.