Long may we live! Long may we live!

The Fontainehofje is an early example of a particular initiative in housing for the elderly. In 1753, the wealthy Amsterdam-based widow Petronella Fontaine-Calkoen, bequeathed a large portion of her fortune for the construction of almshouses for elderly women. In 1913 the institution moved to the Valeriusstraat in Amsterdam.

The Van Gendt brothers, well-known Amsterdam-based architects, designed twelve apartments divided between six houses with a rear garden. Each apartment consisted of a separate bedroom and kitchen: a great luxury at a time when communal dormitories were still very common. There were also communal facilities such as washrooms, the garden, a guest room in the attic and a shared kitchen. The old Dutch Renaissance style, with stepped gables and red roof tiles, reflected the regents' desire to display their charity as a status symbol. The old, richly decorated plaque with the coat of arms of the founder and her husband, Joan Fontaine, dating from 1753, is the crowing glory of the façade.