Welcome to my home

Roos and Rick started out as diehard city dwellers. ‘We had a flat in Amsterdam with a roof terrace,’ says Roos. ‘We enjoyed city life – getting coffee and walking with Pom, our first daughter, in the park. However, when I got pregnant again, we decided to look for a house with more space and a garden. We wanted our girls to grow up the way we grew up.’

They began their search for a neighbourhood, along the coast on the outskirts of Amsterdam. ‘We explored Haarlem and its surroundings,’ says Roos. ‘A house came up in Overveen, which is within walking distance of Haarlem and a 15-minute bike ride to the beach. The house felt right as soon as we stepped inside, despite it being very dark. Also, I had a dream of starting a holiday home business and could see this place would be perfect.’

The house was very run-down and was going to need some serious work doing to it. ‘It was barely maintained and everything needed renovating. We started by tackling the house’s adjoining barn, so we could move in to it temporarily while the house was worked on.’ Afterwards, this would become Roos’ holiday home business, Sea & the City (seaandthecity.nl).

Then a year of building work began. The rear wall was largely replaced with glazing, and walls removed to create an open-plan kitchen-diner with a walk-in pantry. All the interior doors were replaced. ‘They blocked out a lot of light,’ says Roos, ‘so we swapped them for steel glass doors.’ Finally, they doubled the size of the bathroom and refitted the en suite. ‘Rick supervised the building work,’ she adds, ‘while I was busy planning the interior.’

‘I think this house has a wonderful layout now. Thanks to the high ceilings, and the new glazing, it feels spacious and pleasantly light. This is definitely our dream house and we have a wonderful life here.’