The Coomanshof is a former hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands, on the Witte Heren straat.
It was named the "mercerie" or cramersneringhe after the local merchant's guild that existed from 1407. The small guild house dates from 1644. The hofje that grew around it is typical of the type of occupational hofjes such as the Brouwershofje that grew out of the local Brewer's guild. The patron saint of the merchants was Saint Nicholas, also the patron saint of Amsterdam. When the guilds were disbanded under Napoleon in 1798, the hofje was rented out until 1854 when it was sold. When the local head of the archives Adriaan Justus Enschedé bought the property in 1871, he demolished the eleven small hofje houses but kept the guild house as a folly for his garden. His main home was on the Zijlstraat. Enschede also found the original gable stone and had it reinstalled in 1871 above the doorway in the Witte Herenstraat.
In 1950 Godfried Bomans began his Teisterbant club on the Grote Markt and he was able to rent this guild house and garden as a summer meeting place, which he dubbed "Het Paradijsje" (little paradise). In 1951 the artist Anton Heyboer moved in and lived there with his wife Elsa and they were later joined by the sculptor Piet van Heerden and his wife. [1] In the summer months Heyboer hung lanterns in the branches of the orchard in the yard and served fish from IJmuiden to the Teisterbant club members. As an artist he was inspired by the old tiles on the walls and floor of the small guild house and motifs from the floor tiles can be seen in his etchings from this period.
In 1955 the garden with the small guild house was bought back from its owner by the city of Haarlem and it was restored in 1962. Today it serves as an artist's workshop and can be reached through the gate of the children's playground called "Paradijsje". [2]
The Frans Hals Museum is a museum located in Haarlem, the Netherlands.
The Hofje van Noblet is a hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands.
The Frans Loenenhofje is a hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands, on the Witte Heren straat.
The Lutherse Hofje is a hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands.
The Hofje van Loo is a hofje on the Barrevoetstraat 7 in Haarlem, Netherlands.
Haarlem is one of the cities in the Netherlands that has a number of hofjes. Some of them are still in use with boards of regents. Many of these are members of the Stichting Haarlemse Hofjes. The word 'hofje' just means small garden, because the hofjes are generally small houses grouped around a community kitchen garden with a water pump. Often they were attached to a larger field for bleaching linen or growing orchards, but today those fields have been long used for city expansion and only the central gardens can still be seen.
The Bruiningshofje is a hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands.
The Brouwershofje is a hofje on the Tuchthuisstraat in Haarlem, Netherlands.
The Hofje van Willem Heythuijsen is a hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands. It was founded in 1650 by the testament of Willem van Heythuysen on the site of his summer residence outside the city walls of Haarlem on land that was considered Heemstede 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.
The Zuiderhofje is a hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands.
Godfried Jan Arnold Bomans was a Dutch author and television personality. Much of his work remains untranslated into English.
Pieter Teyler van der Hulst was a wealthy Dutch Mennonite merchant and banker, who died childless, leaving a legacy of two million florins to the pursuit of religion, arts and science in his hometown, that led to the formation of Teyler's Museum. This was not the value of his entire estate. He also founded Teylers Hofje in his name, and made important donations to individuals in the Mennonite community.
The Vrouwe- en Antonie Gasthuis is a hofje on the Klein Heiligland 64a in Haarlem, Netherlands. It is open on weekdays from 10-17.00.
The Proveniershuis is a hofje and former schutterij on the Grote Houtstraat in Haarlem, Netherlands.
The Hofje van Codde en Beresteyn is a hofje in Haarlem, Netherlands. The current building is from 1968 and is located on the J. Cuyperstraat, which is named for the architect who designed the Cathedral of Saint Bavo next door, Joseph Cuypers. This hofje is the wealthiest hofje foundation in Haarlem with the most modern facilities for its inhabitants. Poor (devote) Catholic women of Haarlem 60 years and older are still welcome to live there for free.
Johannes Enschedé III was a Haarlem newspaper editor and printer.
Anton Heyboer was a Dutch painter and printmaker.
The Teisterbant club was the name of an artists' society in Haarlem that flourished between 1950 and 1973.
Piet van Heerden, was a Dutch sculptor and painter.
The Haarlem schutterij refers to a collective name for the voluntary civic guard of Haarlem, from medieval times up to the Batavian Revolution in 1794, when the guilds of Haarlem were disbanded.