Just a piece of History​

The Tea House was ‘only’ built in the Leidse Hout since 1949. The opening of the Leidse Hout park took place on 30 June 1931. The large pond was only half dug and all kinds of facilities were still missing. Due to a lack of money, it was difficult to find a budget for the maintenance of the park. Nevertheless, the board succeeded in installing benches and playground equipment. Interested parties and bulb growers regularly donated plants.

The animal enclosure with deer park was built in 1935. But it would take until 1949 before there was a real tea house (designed by K.J. Koch) in the park, built on the site of a wooden bandstand.

Visitors to the tea house often wonder why it is ‘De Leidsehout’ and not ‘Het Leidsehout’. That is also difficult to explain. According to a linguist, the explanation could be that people used to talk about running in den Hout, where den was the dative case of the article het. After omitting the n, it would have been misinterpreted as a de-word.

Jan Wolkers

He liked to come there during his life. On January 31, 1998, he even ate in the new kitchen of the Theehuis, together with the then mayor of Leiden Cees Goekoop. On the menu was a sirloin steak served in heart shape. The table was generously provided with cognac, which was then lit into the flame. Name of the dish: “Brandende Liefde”, after the book of the same name by Wolkers, which was later also made into a film.

Opening hours

Monday 09:00 – 17:00
Tuesday 09:00 – 17:00
Wednesday 09:00 – 17:00
Thursday 09:00 – 17:00
Friday 09:00 – 18:00
Saturday 09:00 – 18:00
Sunday 09:00 – 18:00

Reservations are possible on Monday to Saturday from 11 a.m.