Throwback Thursday (Part 3): Love at first sight, green tiles and a whole lot of sand.

In part 2, we told you how, after a major setback in Dieverbrug, we still drove past another address in Wittelte. We looked from the street and thought: this might just be it. With a stomach full of butterflies and adrenaline, we drove back to The Hague.

The first 'No' (and yet a 'Yes')

Upon arriving home in The Hague, we dove straight to the computer. We fired up Funda, tracked down the selling agent, and the very next morning Emy was on the phone. “We are interested in the farmhouse in Wittelte!” The answer on the other end of the line was a letdown. Unfortunately, viewings are already scheduled, the chance is very small. Damn. That was a real bummer. We let it sink in and just kept looking. Until the phone suddenly rang a few days later. It was the real estate agent from Wittelterweg: we were allowed to come by for a viewing after all! Oh, how happy we were. In the photo, you can see what the meadow looked like back then.

“Jan, we’ll call you soon!”

A week later, we drove to Drenthe again. This time without our own buying agent, Jan. He was busy and said, in a typically matter-of-fact way: Just go take a look. If it’s any good, just give me a call.

Upon arriving in Wittelte, we turned onto the yard, where the selling real estate agent was waiting for us. The first view was beautiful, with a direct view of the neighbor across the street's horses. But as we walked further onto the yard, past the barn, it happened. WOW! It was so beautiful, so natural, almost magical. Emy and I looked at each other and felt exactly the same. It felt right. The feeling, the space, everything.

I grabbed my phone. We hadn't even seen the inside of the house yet, but we were head over heels in love. I called Jan: “We’re here now, this is it!” Jan probably had to laugh at those two excited guys from The Hague and brought us back down to earth for a moment: “Take it easy, guys. Just take a look inside first. I’ll call that real estate agent tomorrow.”

Back in time (and ducking on the stairs)

After quietly taking in the yard, we stepped inside the house from 1920. That is quite a shock when you are used to the space in The Hague. It was small! You entered through the utility room, walked through to the kitchen, and then into the living room. On the ground floor was a large bedroom and a bathroom… complete with green tiles from the 70s (coincidentally exactly Emy's birth year!).

We reached the attic via a creaking staircase, where you had to duck low to avoid hitting your head. It looked pretty good. Meanwhile, the real estate agent was talking non-stop about 'all the possibilities', but to be honest? I barely listened. We were just enjoying ourselves.

A “good” carpenter and a bucket of sand

Outside stood a large, old shed full of cobwebs. In a corner stood some tools and a whole lot of screws. The real estate agent proudly told us that the previous resident had been 'a very good carpenter'. Well… we couldn't tell that at all, haha!

Furthermore, there were two stables, a hay barn, and a total of one hectare of land surrounding it. Except: there wasn't a single blade of grass. It was literally nothing but sand.

Luxury in the house was also nowhere to be found. No central heating, but an old-fashioned round gas heater and a water heater. You can imagine that the overall picture was not exactly a move-in ready villa. A tremendous amount of work needed to be done. But it didn't bother us at all. It was perfect. We knew for sure: this was the place for us and our future animals.

Just a week's break! Because we are taking a week off ourselves to recharge, there will be no Throwback Thursday next Thursday.

But we won't keep you in suspense too long! The week after that, we'll be back with part 4: The offer, the nerves, and the handover of the keys. Would we manage to secure our dream home?

Thanks for reading along again, and see you in two weeks! Best regards, Patrick & Emy