Hofje willem van heythuijsen - kleine houtweg

The Hofje van Willem Heythuijsen is a

hofje A (diminutive of 'hof', 'court') is a Dutch word for a courtyard with almshouses around it. have existed since the Middle Ages. A provided housing for elderly people (mostly women). They were privately funded, and served as a form of ...

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. It was founded in 1650 by the testament of

Willem van Heythuysen Willem van Heythuysen (1590s – 1650), was a Dutch cloth merchant and hofje founder in Haarlem and Weert. He is best known today for his portraits by Frans Hals, though he is remembered locally for his ''Hofje van Willem Heythuijsen'' borderi ...

(sometimes spelled Heijthuijsen) on the site of his summer residence outside the city walls of Haarlem on land that was considered

Heemstede Heemstede () is a town and a municipality in the Western Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. In 2021, it had a population of 27,545. Located just south of the city of Haarlem on the border with South Holland, it is one of the richest ...

property until it was annexed in 1927. It is one of the few hofjes of Haarlem to be built outside the city walls. It has a 'T' shape and has a small open courtyard and a garden still intact.

Biography

Willem Heythuijsen was a cloth merchant born in

Weert Weert (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and city in the southeastern Netherlands located in the western part of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. It lies on the Eindhoven–Maas ...

, a small city in

Dutch Limburg Limburg (; ), also known as Dutch Limburg, is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is bordered by Gelderland to the north and by North Brabant to the west. Its long eastern boundary forms the border with the German sta ...

Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, ; ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He lived and worked in Haarlem, a city in which the local authority of the day frowned on religious painting in places of worship but citizens liked to decorate thei ...

painted him several times, and one of these portraits hung in this hofje for centuries. In 1636 Willem van Heythuijsen had his will and testament drawn up with the plans for this hofje in the event that he and his sister would die without issue. All of the information we have today about Willem van Heythuijsen is from this will and the acts drawn up by his executors Tieleman Roosterman and Marten van Sittart. Roosterman was the first regent of the hofje and also had his portrait painted by Frans Hals. After his sister Geertruyd van Heyhuysen died, his double house on the Oude gracht were sold, as was his summer home on the

Spaarne The Spaarne is a river in North Holland, Netherlands. This partially canalized river connects the Ringvaart to a side branch of the North Sea Canal. It runs through Haarlem, Heemstede, and Spaarndam. The historic canals of Haarlem's moats are c ...

. The summer home "Middelhout" was sold to Hendrik van Vladeracken, brother-in-law to Rosterman. Their daughter Susanna became a regent of the hofje and lived to be 90. Thanks to her legacy, the hofje underwent repairs and a painting was made to honor her that is now in the possession of the

Frans Hals Museum The Frans Hals Museum (formerly ''Stedelijk Museum van Haarlem'') is a museum in the North Holland city of Haarlem, the Netherlands, founded in 1862, known as the Art Museum of Haarlem. Its collection is based on the city's own rich collection, b ...

. Today Middelhout is called Spaar en Hout and is an old age home. File:Willem Heythuijsen by Frans Hals 1634.jpg, Painting of Willem van Heythuijsen by

, a copy of which hung in the hofje File:Possibly after Frans Hals 001.jpg, The later copy which once hung in the regents room in Haarlem File:Frans Hals - Tieleman Roosterman 1634.jpg, Painting of Tieleman Rosterman by Frans Hals, the first regent of the hofje The proceeds of the van Heythuijsen estate were used to convert the orchard and the gardener's houses of Middelhout into a hofje with room for twelve pensioners, and enough money was left over to make donations to the ''Oudemannenhuis'' (currently the location of the

), the ''Diaconie'' (currently the location of the Police station), and to the city of Weert for founding a hofje there as well. To provide income for the hofje, more land was purchased just north of this hofje outside the city walls in an area called ''Rozenprieel'', which generated income from rents. Unlike many other hofjes, this hofje accommodated both male and female inhabitants, until it switched to only female inhabitants in the 18th century. The hofje was built on the border with Heemstede, and the regent's room was south of the rest of the complex on Heemstede land. For centuries a stone border marker was situated in front of the entrance. In 1927 Haarlem annexed a large portion of Heemstede and the marker was removed. It is now in the garden of the Frans Hals Museum. Address: Kleine Houtweg 135

References

* ''Door gangen en poorten naar de hofjes van Haarlem'', Peetom, L. en L. van der Hoek, Leiden, 2001, * ''Haarlems hofjes'', Dr. G. H. Kurtz, Schuyt & Co C.V., Haarlem, 1972, {{Hofjes in Haarlem 1650 establishments in the Dutch Republic Hofjes Rijksmonuments in Haarlem