- Year built: 1755
- Style of construction: e.g. Louis XV forms and rococo fireplace
- Original function: Social care and charity
This regent-run women's court from 1755 has forty residents. During the day visitors can walk through the Regentenhof, which consists of four courtyards; after 6 p.m. the gate at Bagijnhof and the gate at Vriesestraat closes. The Dordrecht shipowner and merchant Gijsbert de Lengh put his intentions in writing in 1755 to found a madam court where women aged fifty and older could live free of charge. However, he died the same year. The regents he appointed had his plans implemented and in 1756 the first residents could move into their houses. The hofje therefore bears both the name of its founder, de Lengh, and of the regents who carried out the work after his untimely death.
The main entrance is on the Bagijnhof: a stone-clad gate with rococo decorations (typically the shell shapes). Here is the "Voorhof" with sixteen original houses around a square courtyard. On a pedestal from 1730 is a sundial dating from 1880. Opposite the main entrance is the Regent's Room (with shutters) with an interior worth seeing. The combination of marble paneling and gold leather wallpaper is unique in the Netherlands. Among other things, there is a chimney of Belgian marble, gold-leather wallpaper and a stucco ceiling with ornate rococo decorations. Seen from the entrance to the right is the "Klophof," an extension of the early twentieth century. The passage on the left leads into the nineteenth-century 'Langehof' and thence again into the 'Achterhof' or 'Vriesestraathof'. The original eight houses from 1755 of the Achterhof were replaced by and supplemented with new houses in the nineteenth century. Meanwhile, many homes have been adapted to modern times; some cottages have been given a different function. Although nowadays the occupants pay a small fee for the use of the cottages, many of the rules drawn up by Gijsbert de Lengh still apply.
