HISTORY

The first mention of an inn in Oegstgeest dates back to 1355. This inn owes its name, "De Voskuyl," to the local tradition of catching foxes in a pit. In 1517, the inn was destroyed, rebuilt, and then held as a hedge sermon. The road along which the inn is situated connects historic Leiden with the fishing villages of Noordwijk and Katwijk on the North Sea coast. It was along this road that, in 1926, two enterprising young men purchased 6,000m² of land with an idyllic white cottage on it, with the idea of opening a tearoom. One of them, Leo van der Putten, was an imaginative garden expert who gained his inspiration in England. Once back in Holland, Van der Putten wanted to try his luck in landscape gardening. His partner in this venture, the carpenter Brik, converted the small house into a tearoom. Thanks to the now three-century-old beech tree, the name was changed to 'De Beukenhof'.

Van der Putten designed a walking garden and, together with Brik, began selling plants and serving tea to noble families on their way to town or the seaside. In 1948, the inn was transformed into De Beukenhof as we know it today.