For a vacation home, you sometimes have to drive a long way and maintain it yourself, but Minke Boender (51) and Martijn Noordhoek (49) think it’s worth it. “A place in nature with space for my children’s weddings.”
“Our children should just say ‘trekker’ (tractor in Dutch), instead of tractor. And with their hands and feet in the sand,” Minke and her husband said to each other, just before their eldest was born. The desire for the outdoor life brought the family from The Hague to Drenthe in 2008, where they bought a wooden vacation home on the edge of the heath.
Minke and her family live in The Hague, but traveled to their vacation home every other weekend. “We thought it was important to also give our ‘Randstad children’ a taste of life in the countryside.”
What appeals to the family so much about the cottage? “The nature. We live next to the heath, where you hear the birds singing. The wolves, deer, and badgers literally walk through our backyard. The opposite of our busy life in The Hague, which you kind of forget in Drenthe.”
However, the family has been visiting the Drenthe house a little less lately, now that the children are doing sports on weekends. “Sometimes we are not there as a family for three months, because we cannot stay away for long due to all those sports activities. That is also not appreciated by the sports clubs, which I understand,” says Minke.
‘The cottage is worth its weight in gold to us’
Minke and her husband have decided to rent out the cottage when they are not there themselves on certain weekends and school holidays. “Actually, I like that. Guests are enthusiastic and enjoy the house, just like us. It is also good for the maintenance that someone is regularly present.”
When the family is not there, a gardener and cleaning ladies maintain the house and grounds. “We still try to go at least once every month. Sometimes alone, sometimes together with one of the children. Then we tackle the woodwork, for example.”
Minke is not very worried about stricter tax rules, such as an extra levy on returns from rent and better-kept administration. “We pay our commuter and tourist tax neatly. Higher levies would not make us sell the vacation home quickly. It is worth its weight in gold to us to have a permanent place to relax.”
‘Ran to the real estate agent’
For Martijn, nature was also the great advantage of a second home, but abroad. Three years ago, he celebrated a vacation with his family in Tarn-et-Garonne, an area in southern France. “I wanted to cycle through the vast, hilly area. After a few days, I asked my wife if there were houses for sale. Before I finished speaking, she ran to a real estate agent to register us.”
There was plenty of choice, but many houses were, according to Martijn, “junk”. He went to view the house they eventually bought on his own. “My wife gave her approval based on a video I made.”
Then things went fast. “Our real estate agent spoke English and took us through the whole process, arranging all the papers and signing contracts. Through her, we also found a Dutch contractor in the area.”
Since the purchase at the end of last year, there has been a lot of renovation. “We spend every vacation doing odd jobs in the house. Soon in the summer vacation, we mainly want to enjoy it, together with family and friends.”
Is it worth it?
In the meantime, the neighbor – a professional gardener – maintains the 1-hectare garden and the swimming pool. “We lived in Paris for a long time, so we now speak pretty good French. Communicating with the neighbors makes everything easier. Then you find out that everyone is incredibly friendly and happy to help.”
Martijn’s wife is already dreaming of beautiful family events at their new place. “She sees our children getting married here, for example,” he laughs. Yet he acknowledges that it is not a decision for everyone.
“You have to think carefully about how often you can go there. It is more than 1,000 kilometers from Rotterdam and you have to be lucky with the people you work with, such as a real estate agent and contractor. But for us, the house certainly outweighs the effort.”