I live in a Tiny House!

I now live in my Tiny House! In a beautiful location surrounded by greenery with a view to die for. It is just a stone’s throw from Alkmaar train station but still with the feeling of living outside the city, and having the people of Stichting behoud de GAS! Factory and the Urban Earthship as cool neighbors. During the day it buzzes with activity and in the evening it is peaceful and quiet. I really have to pinch myself every now and then: is this real? Did I really do it? Yes!! What a fantastic beautiful Tiny House and what a heavenly location! I enjoy it to the max.  I’ve been incredibly busy moving this week. I’ve still got a lot of stuff and I’ve gotten rid of so much! My car is rather small, so I need to drive up and down a couple of times to move everything.

 

 

Moving my Tiny House went very well, thanks to Bauke and his tough Landrover. Kenneth and I drove behind it with a trailer full of wood and my deck, and Dimka and Anne left a little later and took some lovely photos along the way.  Marjolein and Roos from Helder TV made recordings for ‘Your own dream home’ at various points along the route. Once we arrived in Alkmaar we were met by a large group of people. What a welcome! Nicolette from the Gasfabriek had a bunch of balloons, the press was present, Alderman Van der Ven and the chairman of GroenLinks Alkmaar, Christian Braak, were there and many more interested parties. The deck was immediately built onto the Tiny House, which completed the picture. What a beautiful Tiny house!! I am so grateful to the team of Walden and Dimka for the beautiful design, the skillful build and the fine cooperation! It’s really a lot of work, making a Tiny House like that.  I’m very grateful to my sponsors, without whom I couldn’t have done this. I never thought beforehand that I would receive so much support while building my Tiny House! It is really great! And thank you to all the people who helped build, supported my crowdfunding campaign and everyone who helped me with advice and support!

 

 

I have moved everything to my Tiny House now, including my cats. Monique and I gave a Tiny House presentation in The Hague last Tuesday and it was already after midnight when Monique dropped me off at my old house. During the day we had moved my mattress and I couldn’t bear the thought of letting my cats spend another night in that empty, lonely old house. So I picked them up in the middle of the night, put them in their carrier bag and drove to Alkmaar, to our new place. It was rather stressful for them, but once I was lying in bed, they settled down next to me and started purring. Now I really live in a Tiny House in the Netherlands, and with the permission of the municipality of Alkmaar. Even in the Netherlands it is possible to follow your dream! It does take time and energy to make your dreams come true. But it’s worth it all; you grow enormously and you appreciate it all the more. I can recommend this way of life! I have running water since yesterday, thanks to Boy of Fablab de Kaasfabriek. I do still have to carry water with Jerry cans, but soon I will be able to shower with rainwater. I will write a blog about the water management soon, I promise! There is now a temporary cat cage on the deck so that the cats can go outside, but not flee or escape. Within a week or two the cage will be removed. It was placed by Jan Aart Bos, who also rents a very nice  tenthouse at Callantsoog :)

 

 

I get a lot of e-mails and messages from people who want to come and look at my Tiny House or who want to know  if there is room left here on the premises at the Gasfabriek for more Tiny Houses.  On Sunday 1 June from 13:00 to 16:00 I will have an open day; by then the cats should be a bit used to their new surroundings.  If you have questions about the pilot project for Tiny Houses in Alkmaar or if you want to indicate that you are interested, please fill out the form on the Tiny House Netherlands website.

Tonight I am going to Vlaardingen, where the PvdA has organized an information evening on youth housing. They want to see if Tiny Houses might be a good solution for the lack of suitable, affordable housing for young people. I think the answer is yes, and not just for young people! We’ll see tonight. Here are a few more pictures of my Tiny House taken last night. How wonderful!