Year of construction: 1755
Architectural style: O.a. Louis XV moldings and rococo mantelpiece
Original position: Social care and charity
This women's court from 1755, governed by regents, has forty residents. During the day, visitors can walk through the Regentenhof, which consists of four courtyards. After 6 p.m. the gate at the Bagijnhof and the gate at the Vriesestraat close. In 1755, the Dordrecht shipowner and merchant Gijsbert de Lengh wrote down his intentions to establish a madams' court where women aged fifty and older could live for free. However, he died the same year. The regents he appointed had his plans carried out and in 1756 the first residents were able to move into their houses. The courtyard therefore bears the name of both the founder, de Lengh, and the regents who carried out the work after his untimely death. The main entrance is at the Bagijnhof: a natural stone-clad gate with rococo decorations (typical of which are the shell shapes). Here is the 'Voorhof' with sixteen original houses around a square courtyard. A sundial dating from 1880 stands on a pedestal from 1730. Opposite the main entrance is the Regentenkamer (with shutters) with a worth seeing interior. The combination of marble paneling and gold leather wallpaper is unique in the Netherlands. There is a chimney made of Belgian marble, gold leather wallpaper and a stucco ceiling with elegant rococo decorations. Seen from the entrance to the right is the 'Klophof', an extension from the early twentieth century. The passage on the left takes you to the nineteenth-century 'Langehof' and from there to the 'Achterhof' or 'Vriesestraathof'. The original eight houses of the Achterhof from 1755 were replaced and supplemented with new houses in the nineteenth century. Many homes have now been adapted to modern times, and some houses have been given a different function. Although the residents now pay a small contribution for the use of the houses, many of the rules drawn up by Gijsbert de Lengh still apply.