Hans van Steenwinckel, the royal architect, designed and built the original pavilion and parterre garden in 1587, for King Frederick II of Denmark.

The royal estate was then purchased in 1758 by Count Adam Gottlob Moltke, who completely changed the original pavilion and garden with the help of French architect Nicolas-Henri Jardin between 1759 and 1763.

The friary was confiscated by the crown during the Reformation of 1536 and was probably part of the royal property on the grounds, called Lundegaard, where an old stone house is known to have existed in 1576.

It was built like a strong fortress for guarding Øresund and ensuring payment of sound dues which were enforced by the immediate firing of all cannons on any ship that refused to pay.

In 1587, Hans van Steenwinckel the royal architect built a parterre garden and a pavilion for King Frederick II of Denmark.

Sadly, he would only have a short time to enjoy his newly built pavilion and garden, as he died in 1588, barely a year after construction was completed.

His son, King Christian IV of Denmark, would however get to use it throughout his reign, coming there often and spending large sums of money improving the garden and planting rare trees.

This was done between 1680 and 1681 by Hans van Steenwinckel Jr. to repair the damage that had been caused by general aging over the last century and the recent war with Sweden.

Steenwinckel Jr. kept to his father's original drawings, making only a few minor cosmetic changes, like the addition of Christian V's monogram and the year 1681.

Frederick V of Denmark decided in 1747 to lease Lundhave for four years to Lieutenant Burghof and then, in 1751, sold the property to Johannes G. Putscher, a citizen of Helsingør.

During these years, Count Moltke completely changed Frederik II's pavilion with the help of French architect Nicolas-Henri Jardin, whose additions led to its present-day architectural structure and façade.

The original lines were preserved and the entire building was brought together visually by a strong rotating main cornice, crowned by a balustrade around the flat roof.

The building's exterior also had horizontal bands of polished stone, medallions, festive additions over the windows and arcades on the second floor, emphasizing the classical architecture that Jardin had introduced to Denmark.

It was renamed Marienlyst (Mary's Delight) in her honor and in the 1790s she had a romantic garden laid out with winding paths, follies, including tumuli, hermit cottages and a medieval style Gothic tower.

It is generally filled with groups of elegant females and lovely children, whose manners and appearance bear pleasing testimony to the state of society in this part of his Danish Majesty's dominions.

"[9] Just two years later, a young Hans Christian Andersen also writes about Marienlyst, during a class outing whilst at grammar school in Helsingør.

Meisling says that the whole coast here is similar to that of Naples; the glorious hills are there in the garden, everything seems like Switzerland, and I felt so unspeakably happy, oh, one must become a poet or artist to see the beautiful nature.