Who said you have to live in one place? Perhaps it would be better to have several small houses.
Robert Rossonski and Edith Wassenaar traded their typical Dutch home for several smaller homes, and in the process adopted an itinerant lifestyle, one that prioritized activities like surfing over work. When I discovered it.
Oddly enough, their embrace of small-scale living began with a search for more space.
In 2017, they lived in a 1,500 square foot apartment in an upscale neighborhood in The Hague. “But more and more of us are working from home,” said Mr. Rosonski, now 54, who had a career in sales at Microsoft, while Mr. Wassenaar, now 49, works as an independent marketing consultant and He said he worked as a business coach.
Inevitably, a conflict ensued. For example, Mr. Wassenaar may want to entertain clients in his apartment while Mr. Rosonsky is on a conference call. “So I thought, ‘Why don’t we find something small on the side so we don’t have to bother each other all the time?'” he said.
Tiny Home No. 1: 19th Century Fisherman’s Hut
Since they were avid kitesurfers, they decided to look for a spot on the North Sea in The Hague and found a 600-square-foot fisherman’s house built in 1878, just steps from the beach. After purchasing it in April of the same year for 180,000 euros (approximately $190,000), the interior was renovated over 18 months and at a cost of 150,000 euros (approximately $158,000) with the help of Global Architects.
“It’s in very poor condition and appears to have had very little maintenance over the past 100 years,” said Arthur S. Nass, the company’s owner.
So they removed the walls that divided the house into several small rooms and created a beach-like atmosphere with plaster walls, microcement floors, rustic wood beams, and a small living area with a wood-burning stove. We set out to create an open interior with a unique feel.
To minimize the presence of the kitchen, which also functions as a dining space, the refrigerator and oven were hidden under the stairs leading to the single bedroom. We also added wood fiber insulation, new windows, and solar panels to the roof to make the home more energy efficient.
When the renovation was completed, the couple was so happy with their new compact living space, proximity to the beach, and friendly neighborhood that they came to an unexpected conclusion. “I want to live there forever.”
“That’s how the layoffs started,” Wassenaar said. “We started living in a small house and then renting a larger house in an upscale neighborhood.”
Rosonski added: “The funny thing is that we left almost everything in our old house. We couldn’t bring in much because the cupboards and desk wouldn’t fit. We literally left our old life behind and moved our We completely reevaluated what is really important to us.”
Eventually, Rosonsky, who had bought the couple’s old apartment and paid off the mortgage before meeting Wassenaar, realized that with the rent coming in and expenses almost gone, she didn’t need to work anymore. He retired at the end of 2019, just before turning 50.
Tiny house part 2: wheels!
Inspired by surfers who travel around Europe chasing waves in campers and buses, they quickly decided they needed wheels too.
“We felt this freedom,” he said, because Mr. Rosonski no longer needed to be in the office and Mr. Wassenaar could work from anywhere. “Europe is so small but so dense with culture and opportunity that I wanted to explore more.”
They bought a lightly used 2018 Fiat Ducato van for about 25,000 euros (about $26,500), came up with an interior design plan for their home on wheels, and set up a custom camp for about 30,000 euros. He requested equipment for 5,000 euros (approximately $37,000). The camper now has a loft bed, wool-covered walls, wood-paneled ceiling, kitchen with cooktop and sink, shower and composting toilet.
“Coronavirus hit just when I was ready,” Wassenaar said, but that didn’t stop her from traveling.
They drove 1,000 miles to southern Spain, where they camped for several months. They then took a ferry to the Italian island of Sardinia, where “we lived on the most beautiful beach with no one around,” Wassenaar said. “Before we knew it, we were in paradise.”
Tiny Home No. 3: Island Fixer – Upper
While staying in the van longer than expected, they found a run-down 650 square foot home for sale in Mandriola on the island’s west side. “We looked at each other and said, ‘This is a project, but we’ve done it once, let’s do it again,'” Wassenaar said.
They bought the house in September 2021 for 120,000 euros (about $127,000). They later hired an engineer, who was told the roof was covered in asbestos and the sandstone walls were no longer structurally sound. It turned out that the entire house needed to be rebuilt.
This time, the couple worked with a contractor in between trips to The Hague. To save space, they installed a Klapster folding staircase up to the bedroom loft. It disappears into the wall when not in use. They stripped the bark of hemlock trees and used the trunks as ceiling beams, and repurposed slices of the original sandstone as decorations to give some walls an aged look.
“You walk into a house now and you’re like, ‘Wow, what a great old house,'” Wassenaar said. “But it’s all new.”
The house, which they call “Microcosmos,” was completed in March 2023 after renovations that cost around 120,000 euros ($127,000).
Now, the couple can’t believe their lives.
“The freedom we created for ourselves is still starting to sink in,” Rosonsky said. “All our friends ask us when we’re going to stay in The Hague, when we’re going to stay in Sardinia. We don’t really know the answer. We just want to go with the flow.”
Living Small is a biweekly column that explores what it takes to live a simpler, more sustainable, and more compact life.
If you would like to receive weekly email updates on residential real estate news, please sign up here.
