The Hof van Riemen was originally a medieval fief and at the time probably consisted of a walled fortification with service buildings. “The oldest known owner is Jan van Riemen, who first appeared in the sources in 1376. It explains the name 'Hof van Riemen'. Jan van Riemen was dependent on Count of Flanders Lodewijk van Male as a feudal lord,” says chairman of the Heist local circle Die Swane Rik Van de Broeck.
“The Hof van Riemen is therefore the oldest existing civil building in Heist. In addition, the name of the Van Orshagen family appears in the fourteenth century in the annals of the Hof van Riemen. This renowned Heist alderman family then took over part of the Hof van Riemen fief. The current street name Orshagenstraat is derived from this medieval family.” Several families owned it successively. A new residence was probably built in brick during the sixteenth century.
That was roughly the building that still exists today. At that time, the Hof van Riemen was 23 hectares in size and included various buildings, the water around the Hof, arable lands, meadows, grazing lands and forests. In 1641 the whole was described as “a farm with surrounding waters, house of plaisantien, tenant farms, stables, barn, oven, courtyard and mess”.