After the Edict of Fontainebleau of 1685 the family was forced to flee from France and moved to the Netherlands and further to London in 1688.

Aged 22, John von Collas was a member of the Royal Society and started a journey to Asia.

He became a Royal Prussian Engineer, counsellor, director of the Geometer and respected scholar.

Collas became the landlord of several estates in East Prussia like Dommelkeim (1703–1753), Naujeninken (1703–1731), Brandwehten (1703–1731), Perkuhnen (1717–1731), Sauerwalde (1720–1731), Laugallen (1718–1731), Kraupischkehmen, (1718–1731), Weißenstein/ Gutenfeld (1721–1753) and owned houses in Wehlau (1721–1753) and Borchersdorf (1724–1753), in total he possessed about 2,720 Hectare.

Collas was a successful architect and projected the baroque palaces of Finckenstein, Friedrichstein, Dönhoffstädt and Jäskendorf.