This is a copy of a letter that I'm sending around to friends..... I haven't figured out how to insert photos the way I want... maybe in the next post!
March 10, 2009
Dear friends,
I am writing you with an update on our lives and “the house” – in English, because I’m also sending this letter to my parents and friends in America. (a word file with this text is attached in case that is easier for you to read.) Ik ga er van uit dat Nederlandse-talige mensen het ook goed kan lezen – als iets niet duidelijk is, vraag maar!
First, the background (for those of you who need catching up….)
We’ve been living on the Groenedijk for almost 5 years now. It is a pretty house, with a nice garden, on a scenic street in the middle of a rather ugly, newly built suburb of Utrecht. We pay 1500 Euro per month (around 1900 US dollars) in rent, which is A LOT to pay for a 3 bedroom house in the Netherlands. We use one bedroom for our Shiatsu and Energy Healing practice, and one bedroom for a Bed & Breakfast, and work hard at our day jobs (handyman service & organic food store), and it is manageable. But not great. The house is in bad repair and the landlord won’t do anything (we’re still in legal proceedings over problems we identified the week we moved in….) Lately we can’t get hot water in the shower. The window frames are rotting away and they leak when it rains. We are frustrated. Last Christmas, we resolved: Christmas 2009 we will celebrate in another house.
The search begins.
We started to think what we would like in a new house. Ideally, we wanted something “bigger and better.” More bedrooms for guests (we like the B&B business a lot), more green (because nature makes us feel good and is also good for our patients and guests), a decent garage for Paulus so his tools never have to hang out in the living room (he has so many that if they are all in his work shed, there’s no room to breathe in there.) But if we’re busy fantasizing anyway, we thought, why not came back to the dream we had when we met? Namely, to create a sort of center/retreat/hospice for stressed-out or chronically ill or terminally ill people, where they can come with their families and loved ones. We would offer healthy food, clean air, relaxing massage/Shiatsu, emotional and spiritual support, etc. It would be fun and fulfilling and financially realistic – that was our dream, from 5 years ago. We had made some steps in that direction over the years but hadn’t gotten very far. Maybe it was time to try again, with more effort and focus?
(Um, yes, and with less pain and desperation. The people in my personal/professional development support group reminded me last night: it didn’t go well before because I was so focused on creating the perfect future situation. Now it feels different: I know we can be out of here by December, one way or another, and it feels like a nice adventure, waiting and watching and exploring how it manifests.)
Good connections
I started surfing the internet a lot in the evenings. Following links from our “green” bank, Triodos, I came to the site http://www.non-nobis.nl/. Non-nobis is a non-profit organization that acts as a sort of property management service for socially responsible enterprises. They buy interesting properties and rent them out to, for example, people who want to create a daycare center for handicapped children or a residential center for people recovering from drug addiction. The renters often get the opportunity to buy the property over time if their enterprise does well. Or they leave and Non-nobis looks for new renters. It looked interesting. If we could “rent to buy”, in cooperation with a “like-minded” organization, maybe we could actually manifest our dream. I mailed their director, Jaap van der Haar, with an outline of our idea. He reacted immediately and positively and we’ve had two in-person conversations, also with his wife Jessica. Wow. They are people of incredible warmth and integrity. We learned that Non-nobis at the moment is not buying any new properties, and all their current properties are occupied until the end of 2009, but there could be possibilities for 2010. Jaap and Jessica are in Brazil at the moment (where they regularly go to work with the street children there) but we have another appointment with them in April.
We get motivated.
Before we met with Jaap, we had to spend quite some time getting our ideas solidly on paper. That was good. Then, hearing from Jaap that he liked our ideas, and that he knew people who could help us with our business plan… well, that was very good. So when it looked like Non-nobis might have something for us in 2010 at the earliest, we thought – good, but maybe we can keep looking on our own in the meantime, since we are feeling so positive and motivated.
We go crazy.
My late-night internet surfing brought me to a house that was for sale, in Bunnik (a cute town/city just south and east of Utrecht.) The pictures of the outside were beautiful, the pictures of the inside were confusing, the price was astronomical – but I was so curious. How does it really look inside? It has 14 rooms, it could be fantastic for a B&B, I suppose. We could never afford it. But. I wanted to see it. It wouldn’t cost anything just to go look, right? The little voices in my head said, “sure, why not? Go have a look…” Oh those voices, getting me in trouble all the time….
I am writing you with an update on our lives and “the house” – in English, because I’m also sending this letter to my parents and friends in America. (a word file with this text is attached in case that is easier for you to read.) Ik ga er van uit dat Nederlandse-talige mensen het ook goed kan lezen – als iets niet duidelijk is, vraag maar!
First, the background (for those of you who need catching up….)
We’ve been living on the Groenedijk for almost 5 years now. It is a pretty house, with a nice garden, on a scenic street in the middle of a rather ugly, newly built suburb of Utrecht. We pay 1500 Euro per month (around 1900 US dollars) in rent, which is A LOT to pay for a 3 bedroom house in the Netherlands. We use one bedroom for our Shiatsu and Energy Healing practice, and one bedroom for a Bed & Breakfast, and work hard at our day jobs (handyman service & organic food store), and it is manageable. But not great. The house is in bad repair and the landlord won’t do anything (we’re still in legal proceedings over problems we identified the week we moved in….) Lately we can’t get hot water in the shower. The window frames are rotting away and they leak when it rains. We are frustrated. Last Christmas, we resolved: Christmas 2009 we will celebrate in another house.
The search begins.
We started to think what we would like in a new house. Ideally, we wanted something “bigger and better.” More bedrooms for guests (we like the B&B business a lot), more green (because nature makes us feel good and is also good for our patients and guests), a decent garage for Paulus so his tools never have to hang out in the living room (he has so many that if they are all in his work shed, there’s no room to breathe in there.) But if we’re busy fantasizing anyway, we thought, why not came back to the dream we had when we met? Namely, to create a sort of center/retreat/hospice for stressed-out or chronically ill or terminally ill people, where they can come with their families and loved ones. We would offer healthy food, clean air, relaxing massage/Shiatsu, emotional and spiritual support, etc. It would be fun and fulfilling and financially realistic – that was our dream, from 5 years ago. We had made some steps in that direction over the years but hadn’t gotten very far. Maybe it was time to try again, with more effort and focus?
(Um, yes, and with less pain and desperation. The people in my personal/professional development support group reminded me last night: it didn’t go well before because I was so focused on creating the perfect future situation. Now it feels different: I know we can be out of here by December, one way or another, and it feels like a nice adventure, waiting and watching and exploring how it manifests.)
Good connections
I started surfing the internet a lot in the evenings. Following links from our “green” bank, Triodos, I came to the site http://www.non-nobis.nl/. Non-nobis is a non-profit organization that acts as a sort of property management service for socially responsible enterprises. They buy interesting properties and rent them out to, for example, people who want to create a daycare center for handicapped children or a residential center for people recovering from drug addiction. The renters often get the opportunity to buy the property over time if their enterprise does well. Or they leave and Non-nobis looks for new renters. It looked interesting. If we could “rent to buy”, in cooperation with a “like-minded” organization, maybe we could actually manifest our dream. I mailed their director, Jaap van der Haar, with an outline of our idea. He reacted immediately and positively and we’ve had two in-person conversations, also with his wife Jessica. Wow. They are people of incredible warmth and integrity. We learned that Non-nobis at the moment is not buying any new properties, and all their current properties are occupied until the end of 2009, but there could be possibilities for 2010. Jaap and Jessica are in Brazil at the moment (where they regularly go to work with the street children there) but we have another appointment with them in April.
We get motivated.
Before we met with Jaap, we had to spend quite some time getting our ideas solidly on paper. That was good. Then, hearing from Jaap that he liked our ideas, and that he knew people who could help us with our business plan… well, that was very good. So when it looked like Non-nobis might have something for us in 2010 at the earliest, we thought – good, but maybe we can keep looking on our own in the meantime, since we are feeling so positive and motivated.
We go crazy.
My late-night internet surfing brought me to a house that was for sale, in Bunnik (a cute town/city just south and east of Utrecht.) The pictures of the outside were beautiful, the pictures of the inside were confusing, the price was astronomical – but I was so curious. How does it really look inside? It has 14 rooms, it could be fantastic for a B&B, I suppose. We could never afford it. But. I wanted to see it. It wouldn’t cost anything just to go look, right? The little voices in my head said, “sure, why not? Go have a look…” Oh those voices, getting me in trouble all the time….
The house.
You can see it at http://www.funda.nl/woningaanbod/koop/Detail/Default.aspx?id=804edf5a-1a2c-44bd-b994-d4ecfd8d9499&objecttype=DetailKoopObject&hbx=1
It has a name: Huis aan de Brug (House by the bridge). It is the oldest house in Bunnik – the date on the front is 1674, but that is actually the year it was restored after the invading French army burned all of Bunnik to the ground. Since that time, it has been used as an inn and café, up until the 1930’s. There are several history books written about it. In 1980, the house was bought by the city and completely restored, and functioned as the Bunnik city hall until 1996. The current owners bought it from the city and have an antique showroom and restoration business in it, as well as their own living quarters. They want to (semi-)retire now, and have already bought a smaller property in Zeeland. They get the keys on May 1, but will have to do about 6 months of restoration there. So, the Huis aan de Brug would be available anywhere between May and December. The house is on the market for 1,875,000 Euro – with closing costs and a bit extra to cover remodeling, we’re talking 2 million. Whew. CRAZY!!!
Oh, and I should mention that the bridge (from the name) crosses the Kromme Rijn river (seen in the pictures) and then you are in one of the nicest nature preserves in the whole province of Utrecht. Walking trails and biking trails and an old fort to explore and a pancake house for tourists….
Reality check
I open my spreadsheets and we look through the floor plans and scratch our heads – could we actually live there and generate enough income to pay the bills? 3 rooms for private use (a bedroom, the kitchen, and living/dining room), 5 rooms upstairs for the bed and breakfast, 2 rooms downstairs that we could rent out as small meeting rooms – one of these would have our massage table etc in it and could be rented out as a practice room. One room downstairs as a dining room (buffet style) for B&B guests and other users. A large main entry way, where we could put a reception desk, just outside another room that would be the office. A large common space upstairs, which we would make into the living room/lounge for guests and other users, with a side area under the sloped roof that would be perfect for a children’s play area. Plus – two huge halls – each around 10 x 15 meters! Which we would use… as…. as…. The possibilities were overwhelming… Our brains shut down.
Thinking bigger
We decide, clearly we need to take a new approach. This place has too much potential. A B&B plus Shiatsu treatments only uses about a third of the space available. We need to think bigger. How can we use whole building in a way that (a) is fun, (b) pays the bills, and (c) contributes somehow to making “the world a better place.” We don’t like the idea of putting in a restaurant or hosting late-night parties (that wouldn’t fit with our other goals) but really, everything else is possible. Art expositions. Theatre performances. Concerts. Yoga classes. Lectures. Workshops. Trainings. Wine tastings (organic, of course). Catered dinner parties. Gift shop. Ladies evening knitting circles. Everything.
One possibility that already exists is to host wedding ceremonies (the house is one of only 6 approved locations for weddings in the city/region of Bunnik). Adding the possibility for wedding receptions seems logical. We would want to get a “horeca vergunning” (permission to run a kitchen and serve alcohol), and those can be difficult to get -- but we know that the city is very eager to use the place for weddings again, so I think we can make a deal with them.
Getting help
By now you’ve realized that this is *way* more than Emily and Paulus can do alone. We need help. We need ideas for how we can use the space and people to help organize it. I have a colleague who is an artist with lots of connections – she’s already said she’d love to help us plan art shows, etc. (Thanks Bea!) A friend of hers gives weekend residential art classes at scenic locations – often in France or Switzerland, but with the economy these days she is very open to doing something more local. We have friends in the musical community. And the health and healing community. And of course friends in the organic food sector (through my job at Rio de Bio) In fact, several of our suppliers at the store are located in that area. Through the Utrecht Ondernemers Academy (a school for people starting businesses which Paulus and I attended last year) we know caterers and events organizers and graphics designers and lots of talented people. Another friend, a teacher, has already organized all the business and economics teachers at his college to critique our proposal. (Thanks Ron!) With everyone’s help, I think we can put together a good plan, and one that benefits everyone involved.
The money side
The success of this project depends on a good plan – and also a Good Amount of Money. We are going to try to get a regular mortgage, rather than a business loan, because the terms are much better. We don’t have money ourselves – not in a Good Amount, anyway – but I think/hope my parents do! (I’m going to call them in a few days, after I have my spreadsheets assembled.) It is tricky that they are not Dutch, and I don’t want them to have to give or lend me the money, but I think it would work if they put the money in a sort of security account here in Holland. Then it would be in their names and earning them interest (just like it does now, in the US), and acting as a buffer if we get in trouble. (which we won’t, because if there is a chance of that, we aren’t even going to start.)
If anyone has more information about getting a mortgage this way, we’d be glad to hear it! It is also possible that we will need actual Dutch citizens to act as guarantors (as a back-up for the bank, in the highly unlikely situation where we can’t make our payments and can’t sell the house and all of the Good Amount of Money gets used up.) If anyone has any ideas who we could ask, we’d be glad to hear that, too.
Information
Really, information of all kinds is what we need most, and what I’m going to be gathering all week. How much does it typically cost to rent rooms like these? How fully booked are rooms like these at comparable locations? What would we have to pay to rent or buy video equipment, organic cotton mattresses, a new stainless-steel professional kitchen, good quality terrace umbrellas, etc.? Can we find a cleaning service that works exclusively with natural/organic products and what would that cost? Would it make sense to rent out bikes as well? (there’s a separate bike storage area behind the garage/workshop). We want to add an infra-red sauna to go with our hot tub – what would that cost and do we need to get permission from the city? If we want to add solar panels or a wind turbine, are we allowed and what would that cost? Would patient support groups (for cancer patients, diabetes patients, etc.) be interested in using our spaces and do they have journals where we could advertise our B&B rooms to their members? What about environmentally-oriented groups and services?
Staying connected
I’m *so* full of questions and I can’t wait to start researching – but I know it is really important to stay connected. Our friends are really the ones that are going to make this possible – and you are the ones we want to share it with when it is ready (and boy are we going to have a fantastic openings feest!) Even a simple, “this sounds great, good luck!” reaction from someone is great motivation to keep working. (Thanks Jim and David and tante Riek!)
What I’m going to do, to help with the “staying connected” piece, is to post this letter, plus some photos etc., on a blog site I started last December. http://www.emilyfinnadams.blogspot.com/. I’ll also use the blog as a central place to put updates. Plus thank-you messages. So, stay tuned and feel free to tell anyone else who might be interested!
Until next time,
Love, Emily and Paulus
You can see it at http://www.funda.nl/woningaanbod/koop/Detail/Default.aspx?id=804edf5a-1a2c-44bd-b994-d4ecfd8d9499&objecttype=DetailKoopObject&hbx=1
It has a name: Huis aan de Brug (House by the bridge). It is the oldest house in Bunnik – the date on the front is 1674, but that is actually the year it was restored after the invading French army burned all of Bunnik to the ground. Since that time, it has been used as an inn and café, up until the 1930’s. There are several history books written about it. In 1980, the house was bought by the city and completely restored, and functioned as the Bunnik city hall until 1996. The current owners bought it from the city and have an antique showroom and restoration business in it, as well as their own living quarters. They want to (semi-)retire now, and have already bought a smaller property in Zeeland. They get the keys on May 1, but will have to do about 6 months of restoration there. So, the Huis aan de Brug would be available anywhere between May and December. The house is on the market for 1,875,000 Euro – with closing costs and a bit extra to cover remodeling, we’re talking 2 million. Whew. CRAZY!!!
Oh, and I should mention that the bridge (from the name) crosses the Kromme Rijn river (seen in the pictures) and then you are in one of the nicest nature preserves in the whole province of Utrecht. Walking trails and biking trails and an old fort to explore and a pancake house for tourists….
Reality check
I open my spreadsheets and we look through the floor plans and scratch our heads – could we actually live there and generate enough income to pay the bills? 3 rooms for private use (a bedroom, the kitchen, and living/dining room), 5 rooms upstairs for the bed and breakfast, 2 rooms downstairs that we could rent out as small meeting rooms – one of these would have our massage table etc in it and could be rented out as a practice room. One room downstairs as a dining room (buffet style) for B&B guests and other users. A large main entry way, where we could put a reception desk, just outside another room that would be the office. A large common space upstairs, which we would make into the living room/lounge for guests and other users, with a side area under the sloped roof that would be perfect for a children’s play area. Plus – two huge halls – each around 10 x 15 meters! Which we would use… as…. as…. The possibilities were overwhelming… Our brains shut down.
Thinking bigger
We decide, clearly we need to take a new approach. This place has too much potential. A B&B plus Shiatsu treatments only uses about a third of the space available. We need to think bigger. How can we use whole building in a way that (a) is fun, (b) pays the bills, and (c) contributes somehow to making “the world a better place.” We don’t like the idea of putting in a restaurant or hosting late-night parties (that wouldn’t fit with our other goals) but really, everything else is possible. Art expositions. Theatre performances. Concerts. Yoga classes. Lectures. Workshops. Trainings. Wine tastings (organic, of course). Catered dinner parties. Gift shop. Ladies evening knitting circles. Everything.
One possibility that already exists is to host wedding ceremonies (the house is one of only 6 approved locations for weddings in the city/region of Bunnik). Adding the possibility for wedding receptions seems logical. We would want to get a “horeca vergunning” (permission to run a kitchen and serve alcohol), and those can be difficult to get -- but we know that the city is very eager to use the place for weddings again, so I think we can make a deal with them.
Getting help
By now you’ve realized that this is *way* more than Emily and Paulus can do alone. We need help. We need ideas for how we can use the space and people to help organize it. I have a colleague who is an artist with lots of connections – she’s already said she’d love to help us plan art shows, etc. (Thanks Bea!) A friend of hers gives weekend residential art classes at scenic locations – often in France or Switzerland, but with the economy these days she is very open to doing something more local. We have friends in the musical community. And the health and healing community. And of course friends in the organic food sector (through my job at Rio de Bio) In fact, several of our suppliers at the store are located in that area. Through the Utrecht Ondernemers Academy (a school for people starting businesses which Paulus and I attended last year) we know caterers and events organizers and graphics designers and lots of talented people. Another friend, a teacher, has already organized all the business and economics teachers at his college to critique our proposal. (Thanks Ron!) With everyone’s help, I think we can put together a good plan, and one that benefits everyone involved.
The money side
The success of this project depends on a good plan – and also a Good Amount of Money. We are going to try to get a regular mortgage, rather than a business loan, because the terms are much better. We don’t have money ourselves – not in a Good Amount, anyway – but I think/hope my parents do! (I’m going to call them in a few days, after I have my spreadsheets assembled.) It is tricky that they are not Dutch, and I don’t want them to have to give or lend me the money, but I think it would work if they put the money in a sort of security account here in Holland. Then it would be in their names and earning them interest (just like it does now, in the US), and acting as a buffer if we get in trouble. (which we won’t, because if there is a chance of that, we aren’t even going to start.)
If anyone has more information about getting a mortgage this way, we’d be glad to hear it! It is also possible that we will need actual Dutch citizens to act as guarantors (as a back-up for the bank, in the highly unlikely situation where we can’t make our payments and can’t sell the house and all of the Good Amount of Money gets used up.) If anyone has any ideas who we could ask, we’d be glad to hear that, too.
Information
Really, information of all kinds is what we need most, and what I’m going to be gathering all week. How much does it typically cost to rent rooms like these? How fully booked are rooms like these at comparable locations? What would we have to pay to rent or buy video equipment, organic cotton mattresses, a new stainless-steel professional kitchen, good quality terrace umbrellas, etc.? Can we find a cleaning service that works exclusively with natural/organic products and what would that cost? Would it make sense to rent out bikes as well? (there’s a separate bike storage area behind the garage/workshop). We want to add an infra-red sauna to go with our hot tub – what would that cost and do we need to get permission from the city? If we want to add solar panels or a wind turbine, are we allowed and what would that cost? Would patient support groups (for cancer patients, diabetes patients, etc.) be interested in using our spaces and do they have journals where we could advertise our B&B rooms to their members? What about environmentally-oriented groups and services?
Staying connected
I’m *so* full of questions and I can’t wait to start researching – but I know it is really important to stay connected. Our friends are really the ones that are going to make this possible – and you are the ones we want to share it with when it is ready (and boy are we going to have a fantastic openings feest!) Even a simple, “this sounds great, good luck!” reaction from someone is great motivation to keep working. (Thanks Jim and David and tante Riek!)
What I’m going to do, to help with the “staying connected” piece, is to post this letter, plus some photos etc., on a blog site I started last December. http://www.emilyfinnadams.blogspot.com/. I’ll also use the blog as a central place to put updates. Plus thank-you messages. So, stay tuned and feel free to tell anyone else who might be interested!
Until next time,
Love, Emily and Paulus
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