Aerdenhout travel guide

Aerdenhout is a small town in the municipality of Bloemendaal, North Holland province, the Netherlands. Located in the dunes between Haarlem and the Netherlands's most popular beach town Zandvoort, it ranks as one of the (or the) wealthiest towns in The Netherlands. The name "Aerdenhout" means Andere hout, Dutch for "the other wood", and was given it to distinguish this other wood from the Haarlemmerhout, just south of the city Haarlem.
Aerdenhout functions mostly as a suburb for wealthy commuters to Haarlem, Amsterdam, and other nearby cities. Residents of this village shop in nearby Heemstede, as Aerdenhout itself has virtually no stores.
The village Aerdenhout is dominated by many stately homes and villas, each with a unique style or architecture, and mostly built in the period 1920-1930. A much older building is the "Haringbuys", an old pub along the Zandvoorterweg. In old times fishermen from Zandvoort walked with their stocks through the dunes to the open market in Haarlem and they would take some rest and drink in the Haringbuys. Oposite to this place is an another old house situated: "Bosch en Landzigt". This is probably the oldest house in Aerdenhout. Actually, several people are living in this big building of which the cellars are several centuries old. There are still a few old trees in the garden. In the 20th century, mainly the families van Randwijck and Bierens de Haan were living in this historical house in Aerdenhout. (...) more....