Discover Delft

Hotel Grand Canal has a long and varied history, including as a residence, brewery and cigar factory, but has been a 3* family hotel since 1995.

1565 – 1609

Around 1565 the building was built by Pieter Pieters Sasbout after whom the house is also named "Huis Sasbout". Mr. Sasbout was at that time the mayor of Delft, a brewer, but also the founder of the almshouse of grace. When the gentleman died in 1575 he left the building to his daughter Sijtge.

The building was once a double house. According to Blaeu's map, there used to be a lookout tower, from which one could overlook the surroundings. The house next door was demolished in 1840 to create an entrance to the military workshop.

After the death of the brewer Pieter Sasbout in 1575, the building came into the possession of his heirs. Among others, his daughter Sijtge Sasbout. A tax register shows that the building was rented for 110.00 guilders per year to Jacob Huichz. The building was then sold to the Antwerp refugee cloth merchant Jacques Schot. His widow then sold the building in 1593 to Arent Jansz, De Ouwe and Pieter Anthonisz vd Heuvel.

From the hearth register of 1600 it appears that the large building, with 15 fireplaces, had been divided into 3 parts. In one of them, probably the house still existing on the corner of the Breestraat, lived harbor master Pieter Anthonisz vd Heuvel. The second part was inhabited by Arent Jansz, the old man rented it to a certain Adriaen Cherlippis. Arent Jansz himself was the old brewer of the brewery "de Starre" on the other side of the Oude Delft opposite the old army museum.

The third part of the building that was in the middle of the street still belonged to Sijtge Sasbout. This third part was later called "Die cleijne wereld" around 1700. She was married to Pieter Opmeer. This man was a well-known intellectual in Delft, who fled to the southern regions with his wife and children during the uprising against Spain.

1609 – 1663

In 1609 Pieter Anthonisz vd Heuvel sold his share to Jan Cornelisz van Leijden. He sold it on the orders of creditors to cloth merchant Daniel Cosson. In this deed of sale the name “Die Weerelt” is used for the first and only time for this building. He paid 4,500 guilders for this. On 31 March 1631 the municipality concluded an agreement with the company of Amsterdam cloth merchants to manufacture cloth in Delft. In 1638 this entire operation ended in a fiasco after which he broke with the cloth merchants. When his wife died in 1643 he remarried in 1645 with the widow Pieternella van Bleyswijck. After her death master Hugo van Bleyswijck inherited the building on the Breestraat in 1663.

1672 – 1793

Hugo van Bleyswijk became a member of the city council, the forty council, in the disastrous year of 1672. In that year, when the French invaded Holland, the stadtholder William III seized power. Apparently Hugo was also replaced. He served as alderman until his death in 1682.

He then bequeathed it to Maria van Muijlwijck, who died in 1716. In 1732 the building came into the possession of Johan Gael and his descendants through inheritance. Besides being the owner of this building, he was also mayor of Delft for many years. When the Van Gael family owned this building, it was occupied by tenants.

In 1793 the Gael family sold the house to Cornelis van Duijn, who soon sold it again to Francois Beeldsnijder.

The inventory of the house at that time looked like this: On the ground floor the house had a long hallway and three rooms and a kitchen. The kitchen in turn gave access to a place where two chicken coops and an old fish basket stood. The first floor had, in addition to a through hallway, five rooms and on the second floor one found a comptoire of the deceased. After his death the building was bequeathed to Mrs. Anna Susanna Bagelaar.

After the death of Mrs. Bagelaar, her possessions were divided among the survivors. Miennette Storm-van Chijs was assigned the house on the Breedsteeg. The van der Chijs family remained the owners of the house until 1908. The house was partly occupied by themselves and by tenants. Finally, the house was used as a warehouse and storage place for van der Chijs Handelsmaatschappij.

1836 – 1913

From 1836 the house was rented out. A colorful series of tenants followed each other. In 1878 the building was sold to Mrs. her nephew Jacobus jr. van der Chijs. After the last tenants left the building in 1891 it became a warehouse and later NV van der Chijs established his trading company. After his death in 1896 the house was inherited by his son Jacobus vd Chijs Jr. The Firma van der Chijs mainly traded in tobacco and tea, but in 1908 they took out a mortgage on the building with the intention of turning it into a cigarette factory. Together with Frederick Hillen he entered into a partnership for the production of pastry and tea products. Various permits were applied for and in 1907 and 1908 major renovations were carried out on the front facade, entrance and warehouse. In 1910 the company installed a new door frame in the long side facade. Inside, 4 hp gas engines were installed and in 1913 three electric motors were added.

1916 – 1961

From 1916 the tobacco factory operated under the name "Chapchal Fréres" an originally Russian company with branches in St. Petersburg and Paris. It was not until 1921 that the company was officially mentioned in the Dutch Government Gazette with the founding date 22-02-1921. The company converted the building into a real factory building with work floors and production departments. The factory remained in operation during the war. At that time a German man was appointed as manager of the factory. After the decline in the tobacco industry during the 1950s, the tobacco factory was closed on 27-09-1961. On 16-03-1955 a bronze plaque of AMM Storm-VdChijs was unveiled at her birthplace Breestraat 1. It was made by artist Marian Gobius, but during a renovation the plaque appeared to have disappeared without a trace. Because the famous Delft photographer Rene vd Krogt had taken a good photo in 1983, a second plate could be made after the artist's death. This was done by Mrs. Els Benjamins.

This plaque has been hanging in its prominent place on the facade since 1999.1963 – 1969

After the cigarette factory had closed its doors for good, TNO took over the building and established its reinforced synthetic fibre department. After having used the building as such for years, a fire broke out in the attic in 1967. The flames shot metres high from the attic, which also burned down completely. By tackling the fire with three water cannons, the fire brigade was able to limit the spectacular fire to the attic. And they managed to prevent full gas bottles and chemicals that were lying there from catching fire. The lower floors suffered enormous water damage and the upper floor was destroyed by the fire. After this disaster, only a poor skeleton remained of the imposing building.

Front and side in 19651969 – 1991

At the end of 1969, the building (which was in poor condition) was taken over by the municipality to house two departments of the public works department, the civil service and the parks department. After the director of public works issued a tender, seven contractors responded with interest in the job. Ultimately, it was up to the company Van der Berg/Van der Klis BV to realize the assignment and to reconstruct the building and the facade to their original state. To obtain the drawings etc. of the building, contact was made with the family of Mrs. Van der Chijs, who lived in London. Finally, the renovation was carried out and the renovated building was delivered in 1971.

They soon discover that the building is too small to accommodate all services and move the parks department to another location. The service will remain there until 1991, when the new building on the Staalweg is ready. On 30-09-1991, the building is sold to Mr. EJ Wubben.

Subsequently, there was a series of new owners who briefly owned the building:– Fa EJ Wubben, a consultancy and specialist company for research and business services.– Fa A Van Tol Beheer, active in the trade and real estate sector.– the municipal institution Marlot, the owner in 1994, administration of social employment services.1995 – to date

31-03-1995 we settled in, Hotel Grand Canal. The owner bought this building and then completely stripped it on the inside. First 4 rooms were realized on the ground floor. Then the first floor was added and some time later the second floor now the hotel has 18 cozy rooms all on the canal side. Since 2014 a lot has changed and renovated. All rooms have undergone a renovation and the common areas have also been renovated. We have had the largest renovations but with an old building like this there is always something to renovate.