In 1921, Lau Homan, Hein Bader, and Daan Hogewoning began their own experiment; they wanted to auction flower bulbs instead of flowers, and they would do this only after the bulbs had been harvested. They intended to sell the harvested product. Until then, it was customary to auction crops while they were still "in the field."

They quickly found a suitable location for their experimental auctions. They believed the former stable of the stagecoach horses at Hotel De Witte Zwaan was large enough to house the auctions. However, the opposite proved true. The interest and the supply of bulbs offered for auction were so great that the bulbs were often displayed outside the stable.

Due to its great success, the Dutch Flower Bulb House Hobaho was established. The name Hobaho is a combination of the initials of its founders' surnames: Homan, Bader, and Hoogewoning. As a tribute to the improvised location, a proud white swan was chosen as its trademark.

To expand the auctions, a more suitable building was needed, so the decision was made to build a dedicated hall. A huge hall, covering 4,200 m², was built at the harbor in Lisse. The hall was connected to the harbor via a specially constructed canal, allowing the new bulbs to be shipped directly into the hall. Never before had a warehouse of this size been built. The hall opened in the summer of 1922.

This portrait of one of the three founders of the Hobaho was painted by the French set painter Lucien Louis Manceau (1873-1937). Manceau was a French painter who had worked in Paris on the opera sets of the French Opéra and came to The Hague in 1904 to work for the Royal Theatre as head set painter. Manceau settled in Warmond in 1909, where he would live and paint until his death. Manceau was a versatile painter who painted not only portraits of local celebrities but also "bulb portraits" for bulb traders, still lifes, and flower bulb fields.