until the 18th century, when they bought three graves in the St. Bavochurch. "Rechts houden" The renovation in 1586 included building a blind wall on the street side with a doorway leading to the garden and the houses. The iron anchors on the brick wall are numbered 1586 on the north side of the door. This blind wall was to protect the hofje inhabitants from the strangers on the other side of the street; the inhabitants of the Tuchthuis. This was the Haarlem house of corrections. At the North end of the street a house still has a plaque which says Rechts houden, or keep to the right, which also means stay straight in the sense of conducting oneself with the proper behavior. Coming from the North, the hofje is on the right and the Tuchthuis was on the left. The old Tuchthuis is now a modern apartment building. The old gate to the Tuchthuis, which also had a blind wall on the street side, is now part of the Frans Hals Museum. In 1930 the hofje was renovated again in order to install modern plumbing and electricity, and at that time eight windows were cut in the blind wall to allow more light. Hofje today When the Brewers guild was disbanded (along with the other Haarlem guilds) at the start of the French occupation in 1795, the hofje was run by a city-appointed committee, and since 1811 after the departure of the French, the hofje has been run by the Haarlem city council. Monumentenzorg takes care of the houses, and the Plantsoenendienst takes care of the garden. References Haarlems hofjes, Dr. G. H. Kurtz, Schuyt & Co C.V., Haarlem, 1972, Hofjes 15th-century establishments in Europe Rijksmonuments in Haarlem