In 1745 Governor General Willem Gustav van Imhoff decided to build a country house on a cool location in the mountains outside the busy and unhealthy city Batavia. He chose kampong Baru on 54 kilometres of Batavia and about 300 meters above sea level. Van Imhoff called his estate Buitenzorg (present-day Bogor) His heirs sold the estate to his successor. Governor General Jacob Mossel (1750-1761). It became the practice that a new governor bought the palace from his predecessor. In the 19th century the estate was bought by the government to use it as palace of the Governor General. Today the building is the palace of the president of the Republic Indonesia.
In 1752 rebels, who were chased by the VOC from the sultanate Bantam (Banten) ransacked the area of Buitenzorg. Governor General Mossel ordered the construction of the small fort Philippine opposite the palace to protect his estate against robbers. It was called after his daughter Philippina Theodora Mossel (1731-1765). Inside the octagonal wall of the fort stood a guardhouse with a small bell tower. Fort Philippina was demolished by Governor General Herman Willem Daendels (1808-1811), who wanted to build a larger palace on the site. There are no remains of the fort.
