Who says it’s important to reside in a single place? Possibly just a few tiny houses can be preferable.
That’s what Robert Losonsky and Edith Wassenaar found once they traded a typical house within the Netherlands for a number of smaller ones, adopting a peripatetic way of life — one which prioritizes actions like browsing over work — within the course of.
Oddly sufficient, their embrace of small-scale dwelling started with a hunt for more room.
In 2017, they have been dwelling in a 1,500-square-foot condominium in an upscale neighborhood in The Hague. “However we began to work increasingly from house,” stated Mr. Losonsky, now 54, who had a profession in gross sales at Microsoft, whereas Ms. Wassenaar, now 49, labored as an unbiased advertising guide and enterprise coach.
Inevitably, there have been conflicts. Ms. Wassenaar, for instance, may wish to entertain shoppers within the condominium whereas Mr. Losonsky was on a convention name. “So I assumed, ‘Nicely, why don’t we discover one thing small on the aspect, so we don’t at all times must disturb one another?’” he stated.
Tiny Dwelling No. 1: a Nineteenth-Century Fisherman’s Cottage
As a result of they have been avid kite surfers, they determined to search for a spot on the North Sea in The Hague and located a 600-square-foot fisherman’s home in-built 1878 simply steps from the seaside. After shopping for it for 180,000 euros ($190,000) that April, they spent 18 months and 150,000 euros ($158,000) doing a intestine renovation with assist from World Architects.
“It was in actually unhealthy situation and appeared like not a lot upkeep had been carried out over the past hundred years,” stated Arthur S. Nuss, the agency’s proprietor.
In order that they eradicated the partitions that divided the home into a number of cramped rooms and proceeded to create an open inside with a beachy vibe: plastered partitions, micro-cement flooring, rustic wooden beams and a small sitting space anchored by a wooden range.
To attenuate the presence of the kitchen, which doubles as a eating house, they hid the fridge and oven beneath a staircase main as much as the only bed room. Additionally they added wood-fiber insulation, new home windows and photo voltaic panels on the roof to make the house extra vitality environment friendly.
When the renovation was completed, the couple have been so happy with their new compact dwelling house, its proximity to the seaside and its pleasant neighborhood that they arrived at an sudden conclusion: They wished to reside there on a regular basis.
“That’s how the downsizing began,” Ms. Wassenaar stated. “We began dwelling within the small place and renting out the larger house within the posh neighborhood.”
Mr. Losonsky added: “The humorous factor is that we left virtually every thing behind within the outdated house. We might hardly take any cabinet or any desk as a result of it wouldn’t match. We actually left our outdated life behind and fully re-evaluated what was actually essential to us.”
Earlier than lengthy, Mr. Losonsky, who had purchased the couple’s outdated condominium earlier than assembly Ms. Wassenaar and had paid off the mortgage, got here to a different realization: With lease coming in and few bills, he not wanted to work. He retired in late 2019, simply earlier than turning 50.
Tiny Dwelling No. 2: Wheels!
Impressed by surfers who journey round Europe chasing waves in camper vans and buses, they quickly determined that additionally they wanted wheels.
As a result of Mr. Losonsky not wanted to be in an workplace and Ms. Wassenaar might work from wherever, “We felt this freedom,” he stated. “Europe is so small, however so dense with tradition and alternatives that we wished to discover it extra.”
They purchased a evenly used 2018 Fiat Ducato van for about 25,000 euros ($26,500), dreamed up an inside design scheme for his or her house on wheels, and employed Customized Camp to outfit it for about 35,000 euros ($37,000). The camper now has a loft mattress, wool-covered partitions, a wood-paneled ceiling, a kitchen with a cooktop and sink, a bathe and a composting rest room.
“Covid hit simply because it was prepared,” Ms. Wassenaar stated, however that didn’t cease them from touring.
They drove 1,000 miles to the south of Spain, the place they camped for just a few months. Then they traveled by ferry to the island of Sardinia, in Italy, the place “we have been dwelling on essentially the most lovely seashores, with no person round,” Ms. Wassenaar stated. “We discovered ourselves in paradise.”
Tiny Dwelling No. 3: An Island Fixer-Higher
Whereas staying of their van for longer than they anticipated, they noticed a run-down 650-square-foot home on the market in Mandriola, on the western aspect of the island. “We checked out one another and stated, ‘It’s a mission, however we already did this as soon as, so we are able to do it once more,’” Ms. Wassenaar stated.
They purchased the house for 120,000 euros ($127,000) in September 2021. Then they employed an engineer who instructed them that the roof was lined with asbestos and the sandstone partitions have been not structurally sound. Your entire home, it turned out, wanted to be rebuilt.
This time, the couple labored alongside their contractors, in between journeys to The Hague. To save lots of house, they put in a folding staircase by Klapster as much as the sleeping loft; when it isn’t getting used, it disappears into the wall. They stripped the bark off hemlock timber so they might use the trunks as ceiling beams and repurposed slices of the unique sandstone as an ornamental characteristic to offer some partitions the looks of age.
“Once you stroll into the home now, the sensation is, ‘Oh, what an exquisite outdated home it’s,’” Ms. Wassenaar stated. “However it’s all new.”
The home, which they name Microcosmos, was accomplished in March 2023, after a renovation that price about 120,000 euros ($127,000).
Now the couple can hardly consider the lives they’re dwelling.
“It’s nonetheless beginning to sink in what freedom we’ve got created for ourselves,” Mr. Losonsky stated. “All our pals ask after we’re going to remain in The Hague and after we’re going to remain in Sardinia. The true reply is we don’t know. We simply wish to drift.”
Dwelling Small is a biweekly column exploring what it takes to guide a less complicated, extra sustainable or extra compact life.
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