I think, just maybe, I've made a huge technological breakthrough.... It would be amazing....
I've been so busy with the corrections and additions to our business plan, most of which involve adding more tables with numbers. The new and improved version now has 25 pages. I want to make it possible for people to access it online, but I wasn't looking forward to adding all the new material by hand again on our website. It is an interesting intellectual puzzle, in a way, building tables in html, but it takes soooo long.
I thought it would be much better if I could figure out how to put a pdf file on the website. Which meant first figuring out how to make a pdf file, and then getting it on the site. My version of Microsoft Word doesn't do pdf... but I found a free software package online called OpenOffice that was able to open my Word file and then save it as pdf, without mutating it too badly. And then, with one line of html text... on the very first try... voila! A functioning pdf download link on the front page of our website!!!
And if all goes well, I can duplicate that success right here, with a direct link to the pdf download: www.innerfireworks.com/businessplan.pdf
Oh well. Didn't work on the first try. Let's give it another shot....
Now it works, and it is even updated, and "all" I have to do is translate it into English now! Which is actually a rather big priority because we are having dinner with a professional American pianist on Sunday, and he and his wife might be interested in getting involved with our project somehow....
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
update through 7 april
I'm going to keep this short because I am still very busy with re-writing and improving our business plan. It has evolved a lot, thanks to great input and feedback (from Jaap and from Wendy especially, thank you!)
When I have time, I'll come back here to write some more about:
Peter de Wit and his advice about monuments, renovation, and subsidies.
Reaction from our friend Ron's colleagues.
Finding information about the "Energy Ball" on the internet -- a very cool modern wind-powered energy generator.
Meanwhile we are busy with tax returns and a few klussen -- I am helping Paulus with painting and sanding -- and Paulus is studying every morning for his pathology exams (he passed the first of three, last week! hurray!) We are getting more B&B guests and Shiatsu clients, which is good, because I am hoping to stop at Rio de Bio very soon.
When I have time, I'll come back here to write some more about:
Peter de Wit and his advice about monuments, renovation, and subsidies.
Reaction from our friend Ron's colleagues.
Finding information about the "Energy Ball" on the internet -- a very cool modern wind-powered energy generator.
Meanwhile we are busy with tax returns and a few klussen -- I am helping Paulus with painting and sanding -- and Paulus is studying every morning for his pathology exams (he passed the first of three, last week! hurray!) We are getting more B&B guests and Shiatsu clients, which is good, because I am hoping to stop at Rio de Bio very soon.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
update March 25
More exciting installments in our quest to buy our dream house in Bunnik!
Tuesday March 24. In the daytime, I worked on the business plan, which is now posted in part on this blog, and complete with tables on our website. What a job! And that's just the first version, and without the attachments....
In the evening, I drove to Wageningen, to a sort of "open evening" at a health food store there called Buys & Ko. I've heard a lot about them and wanted to see it for myself. I was also hoping to see an old friend and colleague, Karl, who now works there... and I was in luck. Karl was there, and quite surprised to see me! (it isn't an easy drive from Utrecht, in the dark and rain... I'm impressed that he commuted every day for many months before finally moving to Wageningen.)
I asked Karl in particular about the "client card" being used at Buys & Ko. Approximately 300 clients signed up for this card a few years ago, when the store came up with this way to raise funds. Each client had to loan a minimum of 100 Euro to the store, interest-free. (150 for a family) They could loan more, but in practice almost everyone did the minimal loans of 100 or 150 Euro. Clients can ask for their loan back at any time, but until now only one person has done this. Each year, there is a renewal fee of 10 Euro to cover administration costs. In exchange for making these loans, the clients received a card that gives them 5% discount in the store, plus the right to participate in meetings to discuss developments in the store. Clients with these cards turn out to be very loyal shoppers -- when the weather is bad, regular customers stay away but the client card holders keep coming, to "their store." As a result, the store had dramatically improved sales figures since starting this service -- a nice extra benefit in addition to the interest-free loan of 30,000 plus Euro.
Karl also told about another store in the area that needed to raise money to pay for moving to a new location. They also turned to their customers for small, interest-free loans. Karl said they
needed 200,000 Euro but they could have raised 3 times that much. They had to tell people, no thanks, we don't need any more. His opinion is that there are plenty of people in the Netherlands, even in this economic climate, who want to do something worthwhile with their money. They aren't so concerned about making a profit, if they get a good feeling or some sort of social benefit from their investment.
But how could we use this idea with our fundraising plan? A card with a barcode and discount -- that's good for grocery stores but not for us. A gift certificate for 25 Euro, for every 500 loaned to us, would be a nice gesture (that's the equivalent of 5% interest, plus it brings us more customers) but it is probably not that interesting to our friends and family in America. I thought, what about organic cotton t-shirts with a copy of the old etching of Het Huis aan de Brug? I started to tell Paulus my idea that evening, but he stopped me -- HE had been thinking about what we could offer as a gift to people who help us with loans, and HIS idea was to use the etching of the house, on ceramic tiles. We laughed. It's crazy, we both work all day and when we get back together in the evening, the conversation always starts with "hey, I was thinking, what if we ...."
Wednesday March 25: I got up very early so I could go meet with Ellen Kok from Terecht Anders at 8 a.m. Ellen is another super-friendly person, who gave me an hour of her time and lots of useful information. Today she has sent an email with even more: documents on B&B rules and regulations, a power-point presentation with good tips on how to plan your remodeling and redecorating, a summary of some national research on B&B's... I'm still reading through it all. Great. My conclusions: I've lowered the prices on our two "luxury rooms" and my "best guess" for occupancy rate, to be safer, but it was good to hear that some B&B's in the area are as high as 85%. Plus that the whole group is friendly and cooperative. And that Terecht Anders is very busy with marketing and promoting, and membership is not expensive.
It was 9 o'clock and my next appointment was with Nellie and Victor, at 10:30, so I had an extra hour. I decided to go visit Samaya again. The same friendly receptionist was there as last time, and she invited me again to look around or take a walk outside. I decided to visit the garden, and one of their conference rooms that was not in use. Again, it was such a great experience. I can't explain it. Something about the place touches me so deeply -- I was actually crying, walking in the garden (luckily it was raining and no one else was outside.) The building is not very old, so I don't think that I am tuning into the emotions of previous tenants. And the tears weren't due to my own sadness or longing or whatever. I think it must be because of all the people who come there for their meditation classes and awareness workshops and such things. Cool, that the effect is so tangible. I wonder if that will keep happening every time I visit, or if the effect will wear off after a while.
At 10:30, I rang the doorbell at Dorpsstraat 1. I had another very nice visit with Victor and Nellie. They are really great people. I hope, if we don't manage to get it all together, that they find other good buyers for their house. I know they will be disappointed if they feel they have to sell to someone who doesn't appreciate the house as much as they do.
On this visit, I learned a few extra useful things for our plans, the most important being that we really need to talk to Peter de Wit. Peter is the restoration architect who did all the remodeling of the house for them when they moved in, plus the big restoration for the city back in 1980. He is an expert on the house, but also on Monument buildings in general and in particular on the subsidies that are available for Monument buildings. We have now made an appointment for Monday. (he's coming here! which means I need to clean up all the papers and maps and spreadsheets that are spread all over the livingroom...)
I need to say something about Netherlands and subsidies (although I will be able to say much more after Monday). I'm not an expert on this subject, but I know that Holland does it much better than the US. One of the reasons my mom is worried about this project is because she has been very active in historic preservation in Ithaca (and elsewhere.) In particular, there is a nice old building in Ithaca, called the Clinton House, which was scheduled to be torn down at one point in the 1960's. A group of people (Historic Ithaca) came together to save it. They borrowed money to make all the necessary repairs, and recovered the money later by renting out office space in the building. But they fell behind on the continued maintenance, and took out extra mortgages on the building to fund other restoration projects, and in the end it was a financial nightmare. Now the Clinton House is being sold to a developer. It's a pity.
The way it works in the Netherlands, if I understand correctly, is that someone can petition to get their building on the city Monument list or the national Monument list. There is a selection process, and it takes a while, but in the end if the building has historical or cultural or architectural value, it is accepted. Once on the list, it stays on the list, even if it is sold. There are some disadvantages to being on the list -- you aren't allowed to make certain changes that affect the "essence" of the building (for example, adding an elevator or a sunroom, hanging a modern plastic business sign on the outside, etc.) But the advantages of being on the list are many, especially if you get on the national Monument list. Then the government pays you to maintain the building. How much and how often is not clear to me yet, but apparently you can put together a "10-year maintenance plan" with a rotation of projects like exterior wall painting, new gutters, new lead/zink panels by the chimneys, etc., and get the plan approved, and those costs are covered. If you need to do a major renovation, there is also money for that. In our case, that isn't necessary because this house had a huge, million Euro renovation in 1980. All the walls have an extra wall built on the inside, with a space between the two walls, for insulation (resulting is lots of deep window sills, perfect for plants...) The roof is renewed and insulated. The electric and plumbing and everything are fine, also the emergency fire escape from the upstairs hall.
(update: I learned that the government used to actually pay monument owners for doing maintenance, but not any more. Now you get to deduct the costs, including the cost of your work hours, from your taxable income. Plus, for the maintenance of the building's exterior, you can apply for loans with very low interest -- around 1.5 %. So, it is still much better than living in an old house that isn't a registered monument.)
What is also interesting, this year, is that there is extra subsidy money available for improving energy efficiency (as part of an economic stimulus project from the government.) So we could apply to get a new, more energy efficient water heater (for central heating), for example, and custom made storm windows for the old ones that don't have them yet, and maybe even solar panels or a little windmill. I don't think there will be a subsidy for our new kitchen or bathroom, but who knows? Water-saving showers and automatic lights are good things... Or maybe someone will be impressed with the fact that we want to put in a handicapped-accessible toilet. Anyway, we wouldn't have to worry about outrageous maintenance costs (especially since Paulus can do most of the work himself.)
Another interesting new factoid: The Kromme Rijn river, which runs behind the house, is allowed to partially flood into a flat area each winter, just on the other side of the bridge. The flat area is set up with a mound in the middle, and benches, and lighting poles -- to make an outdoor skating rink! We saw it on our first visit, when it was still very cold. But later in the year, the water is drained away, and you are left with a big swampy area of ground -- a favorite resting spot for massive bird migrations in the spring! Cool! I went home and immediately added "birdwatchers" to our "target audience" list in the business plan.
Victor had some funny stories to share... Apparently, there is a group in Bunnik that likes to organize courses for the locals (I found their agenda already at the city hall -- lots of interesting things, like yoga and photography and music classes). They approached Victor when he first moved there and asked if he would be willing to give a course on restoring antiques. He said, sure, why not? Apparently that caused quite a disturbance in their offices -- lots of people were angry, because when they showed up on the first day to enroll for classes, Victor's course was already full! He ended up running 4 separate sections! He said the same thing about the local people as Michel said, from Bio Goed: lots of academic types, and a rather sleepy feeling in the town -- but very active when it comes to culture and music and so forth. I think this is a very good thing, in general of course, but in particular for our project.
I explained that Paulus wasn't with me because he was busy with a painting job -- in fact, he had painted all day Saturday and Sunday, because the weather was good. Victor said, it's a real advantage being handy with a big house, and Paulus would certainly get extra business in the area. Victor does the exterior painting himself mostly, and he has gotten several requests from passersby: "Can I have your business card, Mr. Painter? Do you have time for a project next month? My back wall needs painting..." Funny!
Tuesday March 24. In the daytime, I worked on the business plan, which is now posted in part on this blog, and complete with tables on our website. What a job! And that's just the first version, and without the attachments....
In the evening, I drove to Wageningen, to a sort of "open evening" at a health food store there called Buys & Ko. I've heard a lot about them and wanted to see it for myself. I was also hoping to see an old friend and colleague, Karl, who now works there... and I was in luck. Karl was there, and quite surprised to see me! (it isn't an easy drive from Utrecht, in the dark and rain... I'm impressed that he commuted every day for many months before finally moving to Wageningen.)
I asked Karl in particular about the "client card" being used at Buys & Ko. Approximately 300 clients signed up for this card a few years ago, when the store came up with this way to raise funds. Each client had to loan a minimum of 100 Euro to the store, interest-free. (150 for a family) They could loan more, but in practice almost everyone did the minimal loans of 100 or 150 Euro. Clients can ask for their loan back at any time, but until now only one person has done this. Each year, there is a renewal fee of 10 Euro to cover administration costs. In exchange for making these loans, the clients received a card that gives them 5% discount in the store, plus the right to participate in meetings to discuss developments in the store. Clients with these cards turn out to be very loyal shoppers -- when the weather is bad, regular customers stay away but the client card holders keep coming, to "their store." As a result, the store had dramatically improved sales figures since starting this service -- a nice extra benefit in addition to the interest-free loan of 30,000 plus Euro.
Karl also told about another store in the area that needed to raise money to pay for moving to a new location. They also turned to their customers for small, interest-free loans. Karl said they
needed 200,000 Euro but they could have raised 3 times that much. They had to tell people, no thanks, we don't need any more. His opinion is that there are plenty of people in the Netherlands, even in this economic climate, who want to do something worthwhile with their money. They aren't so concerned about making a profit, if they get a good feeling or some sort of social benefit from their investment.
But how could we use this idea with our fundraising plan? A card with a barcode and discount -- that's good for grocery stores but not for us. A gift certificate for 25 Euro, for every 500 loaned to us, would be a nice gesture (that's the equivalent of 5% interest, plus it brings us more customers) but it is probably not that interesting to our friends and family in America. I thought, what about organic cotton t-shirts with a copy of the old etching of Het Huis aan de Brug? I started to tell Paulus my idea that evening, but he stopped me -- HE had been thinking about what we could offer as a gift to people who help us with loans, and HIS idea was to use the etching of the house, on ceramic tiles. We laughed. It's crazy, we both work all day and when we get back together in the evening, the conversation always starts with "hey, I was thinking, what if we ...."
Wednesday March 25: I got up very early so I could go meet with Ellen Kok from Terecht Anders at 8 a.m. Ellen is another super-friendly person, who gave me an hour of her time and lots of useful information. Today she has sent an email with even more: documents on B&B rules and regulations, a power-point presentation with good tips on how to plan your remodeling and redecorating, a summary of some national research on B&B's... I'm still reading through it all. Great. My conclusions: I've lowered the prices on our two "luxury rooms" and my "best guess" for occupancy rate, to be safer, but it was good to hear that some B&B's in the area are as high as 85%. Plus that the whole group is friendly and cooperative. And that Terecht Anders is very busy with marketing and promoting, and membership is not expensive.
It was 9 o'clock and my next appointment was with Nellie and Victor, at 10:30, so I had an extra hour. I decided to go visit Samaya again. The same friendly receptionist was there as last time, and she invited me again to look around or take a walk outside. I decided to visit the garden, and one of their conference rooms that was not in use. Again, it was such a great experience. I can't explain it. Something about the place touches me so deeply -- I was actually crying, walking in the garden (luckily it was raining and no one else was outside.) The building is not very old, so I don't think that I am tuning into the emotions of previous tenants. And the tears weren't due to my own sadness or longing or whatever. I think it must be because of all the people who come there for their meditation classes and awareness workshops and such things. Cool, that the effect is so tangible. I wonder if that will keep happening every time I visit, or if the effect will wear off after a while.
At 10:30, I rang the doorbell at Dorpsstraat 1. I had another very nice visit with Victor and Nellie. They are really great people. I hope, if we don't manage to get it all together, that they find other good buyers for their house. I know they will be disappointed if they feel they have to sell to someone who doesn't appreciate the house as much as they do.
On this visit, I learned a few extra useful things for our plans, the most important being that we really need to talk to Peter de Wit. Peter is the restoration architect who did all the remodeling of the house for them when they moved in, plus the big restoration for the city back in 1980. He is an expert on the house, but also on Monument buildings in general and in particular on the subsidies that are available for Monument buildings. We have now made an appointment for Monday. (he's coming here! which means I need to clean up all the papers and maps and spreadsheets that are spread all over the livingroom...)
I need to say something about Netherlands and subsidies (although I will be able to say much more after Monday). I'm not an expert on this subject, but I know that Holland does it much better than the US. One of the reasons my mom is worried about this project is because she has been very active in historic preservation in Ithaca (and elsewhere.) In particular, there is a nice old building in Ithaca, called the Clinton House, which was scheduled to be torn down at one point in the 1960's. A group of people (Historic Ithaca) came together to save it. They borrowed money to make all the necessary repairs, and recovered the money later by renting out office space in the building. But they fell behind on the continued maintenance, and took out extra mortgages on the building to fund other restoration projects, and in the end it was a financial nightmare. Now the Clinton House is being sold to a developer. It's a pity.
The way it works in the Netherlands, if I understand correctly, is that someone can petition to get their building on the city Monument list or the national Monument list. There is a selection process, and it takes a while, but in the end if the building has historical or cultural or architectural value, it is accepted. Once on the list, it stays on the list, even if it is sold. There are some disadvantages to being on the list -- you aren't allowed to make certain changes that affect the "essence" of the building (for example, adding an elevator or a sunroom, hanging a modern plastic business sign on the outside, etc.) But the advantages of being on the list are many, especially if you get on the national Monument list. Then the government pays you to maintain the building. How much and how often is not clear to me yet, but apparently you can put together a "10-year maintenance plan" with a rotation of projects like exterior wall painting, new gutters, new lead/zink panels by the chimneys, etc., and get the plan approved, and those costs are covered. If you need to do a major renovation, there is also money for that. In our case, that isn't necessary because this house had a huge, million Euro renovation in 1980. All the walls have an extra wall built on the inside, with a space between the two walls, for insulation (resulting is lots of deep window sills, perfect for plants...) The roof is renewed and insulated. The electric and plumbing and everything are fine, also the emergency fire escape from the upstairs hall.
(update: I learned that the government used to actually pay monument owners for doing maintenance, but not any more. Now you get to deduct the costs, including the cost of your work hours, from your taxable income. Plus, for the maintenance of the building's exterior, you can apply for loans with very low interest -- around 1.5 %. So, it is still much better than living in an old house that isn't a registered monument.)
What is also interesting, this year, is that there is extra subsidy money available for improving energy efficiency (as part of an economic stimulus project from the government.) So we could apply to get a new, more energy efficient water heater (for central heating), for example, and custom made storm windows for the old ones that don't have them yet, and maybe even solar panels or a little windmill. I don't think there will be a subsidy for our new kitchen or bathroom, but who knows? Water-saving showers and automatic lights are good things... Or maybe someone will be impressed with the fact that we want to put in a handicapped-accessible toilet. Anyway, we wouldn't have to worry about outrageous maintenance costs (especially since Paulus can do most of the work himself.)
Another interesting new factoid: The Kromme Rijn river, which runs behind the house, is allowed to partially flood into a flat area each winter, just on the other side of the bridge. The flat area is set up with a mound in the middle, and benches, and lighting poles -- to make an outdoor skating rink! We saw it on our first visit, when it was still very cold. But later in the year, the water is drained away, and you are left with a big swampy area of ground -- a favorite resting spot for massive bird migrations in the spring! Cool! I went home and immediately added "birdwatchers" to our "target audience" list in the business plan.
Victor had some funny stories to share... Apparently, there is a group in Bunnik that likes to organize courses for the locals (I found their agenda already at the city hall -- lots of interesting things, like yoga and photography and music classes). They approached Victor when he first moved there and asked if he would be willing to give a course on restoring antiques. He said, sure, why not? Apparently that caused quite a disturbance in their offices -- lots of people were angry, because when they showed up on the first day to enroll for classes, Victor's course was already full! He ended up running 4 separate sections! He said the same thing about the local people as Michel said, from Bio Goed: lots of academic types, and a rather sleepy feeling in the town -- but very active when it comes to culture and music and so forth. I think this is a very good thing, in general of course, but in particular for our project.
I explained that Paulus wasn't with me because he was busy with a painting job -- in fact, he had painted all day Saturday and Sunday, because the weather was good. Victor said, it's a real advantage being handy with a big house, and Paulus would certainly get extra business in the area. Victor does the exterior painting himself mostly, and he has gotten several requests from passersby: "Can I have your business card, Mr. Painter? Do you have time for a project next month? My back wall needs painting..." Funny!
After our visit was over, I went back to the Shoemakers to talk to Geerke again. Again, such nice people! I discovered that she and her husband had just been written up in a book about Bunnik in 2008 (a sort of yearly report -- I later got myself a free copy at the City Hall.) Maybe we can get ourselves written about in the book for 2009? Or at least a line or two. The book mentioned a few events that happened at the antique business -- and of course there was a large picture of the house. I went around the corner to the local book store and looked for modern-day postcards of Bunnik -- and again, more than half of them included Het Huis aan de Brug! I'm going to scan a few and put them in the next blog entry.... It is just so amazing, to imagine living in an historic monument that people buy postcards of!
Until next time....
the business plan, in Dutch
This entry is long and in Dutch and maybe I should put it as a page on our website or something, because I don't think the tables are going to work... but at least it is on the internet now so I can point people to it (Dutch people, that is....) Feedback welcome! I haven't ever written a real business plan before, so maybe I left out important categories or something. For sure there are lots of spelling errors because Paulus hasn't checked it yet.... English version coming soon!
update: no, the tables didn't work. I've adjusted it and put it on our website now: www.innerfireworks.com/businessplan.html.... I'll leave the first part of the plan below (the description) but the financial stuff is getting deleted. It makes much more sense with the tables!
updateII: I've gotten so much good feedback that I've had to re-write just about everything, so really the part below is not worth reading, unless you are interested in the evolution of our ideas and thinking.... look for a more recent version in the april blogging section.
update: no, the tables didn't work. I've adjusted it and put it on our website now: www.innerfireworks.com/businessplan.html.... I'll leave the first part of the plan below (the description) but the financial stuff is getting deleted. It makes much more sense with the tables!
updateII: I've gotten so much good feedback that I've had to re-write just about everything, so really the part below is not worth reading, unless you are interested in the evolution of our ideas and thinking.... look for a more recent version in the april blogging section.
Huis aan de Brug, Bunnik
Beschrijving Onderneming:
Bed & breakfast en ontmoetingscentrum aan de Kromme Rijn. Biologisch, ecologisch, rustig en gastvrij.
Uitgebriede omschrijving: Rijksmonument in Bunnik aan de Dorpstraat 1: privé woning, B&B, praktijkruimte en ontmoetingsruimtes voor besloten activiteiten. 100% biologisch eten, eco-vriendelijke producten, groene stroom, e.d.
Begane grond: privé slaapkamer, privé keuken, privé badkamer met douche en toilet, privé eet/woonkamer, praktijkruimte/ontmoetingsruimte 5x5m, ontmoetingsruimte 4x8m, eetkamer/ontmoetingsruimte 4x4m, ingang/receptie, gemeenschappelijke entree hal met grote eettafel, receptie zaal 9x10m met twee toiletten en uitgang naar terras, cateringkeuken en spoelkeuken.
Verdieping: 4 B&B slaapkamers (twee met eigen toilet en douche); badkamer met douche, badkamer met ligbad, en toilet op de gang, bergruimte, gemeenschappelijke woonkamer annex kinderspeelruimte, grote zaal 11x10m.
Buiten: terras, tuin, loods met opbergruimte, fietsstalling, hot tub en sauna, half-open schuren als bescherming.
Mogelijk gebruik van ontmoetingsruimtes:
- concerten of repetities (koor, kamermuziek, akoestische gitaar, piano, e.d), optreden, tentoonstellingen, exposities
- muziek / kunst cursussen of lessen
- yogales, meditatie groepen, seminars en workshops, trainingen, intervisie, behandelingen
- pilates les, dans les, bewegings workshops
- recepties, diners voor besloten groepen, proeverijen, kooklessen (beneden grote zaal)
- bedrijfspresentaties, lezingen, seminars
- trouwerijen (boven grote zaal)
- wellness arrangement (behandelingen + eten + hot tub /sauna gebruik + overnachten)
- combinaties van boven (bijv: trouwerijen + receptie + overnachten, seminar + diner + overnachten, schilderlessen + wellness arrangement)
Aansluitende activiteiten:
- kanohuur, fietshuur (evt. ook mogelijk bij ons)
- wandelen (bijv. naar Fort Rhijnauwen, Amelisweerd, de Moestuin in Maarschalkerweerd), picknicken
- uitstapjes in Bunnik (bijv. naar de Wapen van Bunnik)
- feesten in Bunnik (bijv. bij Hofstede van Beesde)
- bezoeken van de sauna in Houten
- toeristische uitstapjes naar Odijk, Werkhoven, Wijk bij Duurstede
- allerlei mogelijkheden in Utrecht en Zeist
Doelgroepen:
- eco-toeristen, natuurliefhebbers, vogelspotters
- internationale toeristen
- gezondheids-bewuste mensen
- mensen die een cursus of conferentie volgen in de omgeving, bijv. bij Samaya, Amadorra, Universitair Medisch Centrum, e.d.
- mensen op zoek naar rust en de mogelijkheid voor een wellness arrangement
- mensen die lijden aan chronische ziekten zoals kanker, asthma, HIV, CVS, suikerziekte, voedingsallergieen, e.d.
- familieleden daarvan
- bedrijven en organisaties die bezig zijn met het milieu, duurzaam leven, gezondheid, kunst en cultuur, muziek, biologische en streek producten, e.d.
Er wordt niet gerookt in het huis en om het huis. Dieren in overleg.
Onderscheidend:
Als B&B, zijn we anders dan een hotel: we bieden een aparte en uniek omgeving aan, in een Rijksmonument naast een natuurgebied, met veel persoonlijke aandacht.
Als B&B in een Rijksmonument en naast een natuurgebied, zijn we al anders dan de gemiddelde B&B. Verder spelen we in op de “groene” markt (met 100% biologisch eten, natuurlijke schoonmaakmiddelen, gefilterde lucht en water, e.d.) Mensen in de welzijnsmarkt kunnen we ook aantrekken door onze wellness arrangementen (behandelingen, wandelen, hot tub en sauna.) In onze keuken, bereiden we zonder moeite vegetarische of gluten-vrije of suiker-vrije maaltijden – alles kan.
Als ontmoetingscentrum, zijn we anders omdat we ook overnachtingen kunnen aanbieden. Bedrijven, organisaties en/of individuele therapeuten zullen de rustvolle sfeer, dichtbij de natuur, en onze lekkere en gezonde maaltijden waarderen. Ook uniek bij het Huis aan de Brug is de makkelijke bereikbaarheid: 100 meter van het oude dorpscentrum met winkels en postkantoor, 2 km van de A12, 10 minuten van Utrecht, goede verbinding met de bus of trein.
In de zomer, kunnen gasten en bezoekers gebruik maken van fiets- en wandelpaden en kanohuur faciliteiten. Met deze is het mogelijk om een overnachting of een seminar te combineren met een bezoek, bijvoorbeeld, aan het Bezoekerscentrum thee huis bij Amelisweerd of het Pannenkoekenhuis bij Rhijnauwen.
We streven er naar een informele sfeer van gemeenschap te creeren, door mooi ingerichtte gezamenlijke ruimtes. Bij de eetkamer horen grote tafels voor meerdere families en gasten. In de woonkamer zijn kasten vol met bordspellen en legpuzzels.
Onze vaardigheden:
Emily is Amerikaanse met veel ervaringen in andere landen en culturen. Voor toeristen die geen Nederlands spreken, bied dat een mate van vertrouwdheid. Zij heeft Engelse les aan anderstaligen gegeven en weet hoe ze haar taal eenvoudig en begrijpbaar kan houden. Zij kan zich ook als buitenlandse goed inleven in de ervaringen en interessen van internationale toeristen.
Paulus is heel praktisch ingericht. Hij heeft diploma’s en werkervaring als kok, hovenier, klussenman en therapeut. Hij heeft als chefkok en diëetkok gewerkt in restaurants en zorginstellingen, en ook zijn eigen catering bedrijf gehad. Ook heeft hij een aantal jaren makrobiotisch gekookt en gegeten. Nu heeft hij zijn eigen klussenbedrijf, “Paulus de Eco-kluskabouter,” en is aangesloten bij de VLOK, Vereniging van Klussenbedrijven.
Paulus zijn laatste baan was als technisch beheerder voor DOENJA dienstverlening in Utrecht. Hij deed alles, van kleine klussen naar zaalbeheer naar veiligheidstaken. Hij was hoog gewaardeerd voor zijn rustige maar zeer efficiente en doelgericht gedrag. Bij exposities of andere evenementen wilde iedereen hem erbij hebben. Hij heeft BHV en EHBO certificaten gehaald.
Emily werkt nog steeds bij Rio de Bio Natuurvoedingswinkel in Utrecht, waar zij 5 jaar geleden als bakster is begonnen. Nu werkt zij als assistent bedrijfsleider. Zij heeft veel contacten in de biologische sector en heeft bijna elke taak in de winkel gedaan, van roostermaken naar afdelingschef naar bestellen naar boekhouding naar personeelzaken.
Emily en Paulus hebben al jaren een Shiatsu praktijk aan huis, welke ze vooral ’s avonds en in het weekend runnen. Ze zijn leden van de NVST: Nederlandse Vereniging van Soma Therapeuten. Naast hun praktijk, hebben ze momenteel ook één logeerkamer voor gasten. Deze hebben ze aangemeld als B&B kamer in augustus 2008.
In 2007 en 2008, waren ze allebei bezig met de medische basiskennis examens voor hun beroepsvereniging, en met een jaar-lange cursus voor startende ondernemers bij de Utrechtse Ondernemers Academy.
Emily heeft zelf een website gemaakt voor de praktijk, het klussenbedrijf, en de B&B. Zij zorgt voor alle reserveringen, facturen, inkopen, marketing, en boekhouding. Paulus zorgt voor het onderhoud, niet alleen thuis en voor klanten maar ook voor familieleden en vrienden.
Emily en Paulus houden ervan in hun vrije tijd activiteiten te organiseren waarbij gasten, vrienden en familie in een gemoedelijke sfeer samen kunnen komen. Bijvoorbeeld, huisconcerten, groepsdiners, lezingen en workshops.
Omschrijving bouwplan:
Begane grond:
Waar een prive toilet met fontijntje, een bedrijfstoilet met urinoir en twee wastafels, en een bergruimte nu staan: wanden en deuren verplaatsen en voorzieningen uitbreiden naar: Prive badkamer met toilet, douche en wastafel; kleine schoonmaak wasruimte met gootsteen; een gewoon toilet en wastafel; een invalide toilet en wastafel. Uitdaging: heet water inbrengen van andere kant van het huis.
In huidige keuken, extra wandkasten en werkoppervlakken inrichten.
Extra deur installeren tussen ingang en het kantoor; daarvoor een balie bouwen en plaatsen.
Nieuwe catering-keuken en spoel-keuken inrichten waar huidige restauratie werkruimte staat. Als deel daarvan, het huidige lange raam (voormalig deur) aanpassen ivm afzuigkap en wasdroger. Uitdaging: heet en koud water en gas inbrengen van andere kant van het huis, riolering aansluiten. Tweede lange raam (voormalig deur) aanpassen ivm keuken installatie, raam inzetten dat we kunnen openen.
Dubbel deur naar terrasje installeren ipv huidig groot raam in receptie zaal.
Muziek /technische installatie (inclusief beamer, scherm, CD speler en speakers, draadloze microfoon mogelijkheid) in receptie zaal.
Verdieping:
Houten vloeren leggen in de vier slaapkamers.
Inbouwkasten in slaapkamers bewerken (MDF vervangen door hout, deuren toevoegen of weghalen, e.d.)
Een extra badkamer (douche, wastafel, toilet) installeren op het einde van de gang, met toegang op de gang en van de slaapkamer op de hoek.
Evt. brandpreventie/ brandveiligheid maatregelen nemen.
Houten vloer in overloop en trappenkasten afwerken (schuren, lakken, schilderen)
In grote zaal, extra zijdeuren maken naar de bergruimte. Nieuwe verlichting installeren.
Evt. nieuwe CV-ketel installeren.
Overal: gele en groene houtwerk schilderen: wit of neutraal. Wandverlichting en vloerverlichting (met spaarlampen.) Voorzetramen waar zij niet al bestaan – maar dat kan ook in de komende jaren.
Buiten: infra-rood sauna en dompelbad bouwen/installeren. Zonnepanels of kleine wind- of watermolen, afhankelijk van mogelijkheden en subsides.
Opstart plan:
Van tevoren: Zo veel mogelijk meubels en apparaten kopen, op marktplaats. Bedden, matrassen, lakkens, kussens, linengoed, nachtkastjes, borden, bestek, eettafels, diepvriezer enz.... Ook zo veel mogelijk wat we later gaan verkopen aan gasten: plattegronden, gidsen, kado’s, streek producten, souvenirs. Collectie van fietsen klaar om te verhuren. Alles kan opgebergen worden in de twee zalen en de loods. Logo, huisstijl, visitekaartjes, fliers, reserveringssoftware al klaar. Subsidies al aangevraagd (CV-ketel, alternatieve energie bronnen, schilderwerk) B&B aanmelding veranderen van Groenedijk naar Dorpsstraat met bericht dat we een periode gesloten zijn ivm verbouwing. Begin al met reserveeringen.
Eerste maand: B&B kamers aanpassen (schilderen, houten vloeren leggen, brandveiligheid, extra badkamer, meubels) Kleine aanpassingen in de privé keuken om deze te kunnen gebruiken voor de B&B. Kleine ontmoetingsruimtes inrichten. “Gasten” (klusser-vrienden uit Belgie e.d.) kunnen in de ontmoetingsruimtes, eet/woonkamer, en kinderspeelruimte slapen. Persberichten rondsturen, mensen uitnodigen voor openingsfeest.
Tweede maand: Reserveringen voor B&B accepteren als het mogelijk is. Emily draait B&B (ontbijt, schoonmaak, reserveren) Paulus gaat door met privé badkamer, toiletten voor beneden zaal, balie. Emily schildert in privé keuken, eetkamer, slaapkamer; eetkamer deur.
Derde maand: Paulus installeert cateringkeuken en spoelkeuken, verlichting in trouwzaal, deur naar terras. Emily regelt tatamis, meditatie kussens, terras meubels, catering meubels; schildert trouwzaal. B&B draait door.
Vierde maand: finishing touches: muziek installaties, tuin, kantoor, telefonie, kunst regelen.
Eind vierde maand: openingsfeest. Alles klaar, en mooi.
Over deze vier maanden:
Inschatting kosten: 50.000 aankopen, 20.000 verbouwing, 15.000 hypotheek/leningen, 15.000 maandlasten, verzekering, eten, openingsfeest, e.d. = 100.000 Euro
Inschatting inkomsten: 0 + 3000 + 4000 + 5000 B&B, 6000 borgsom van huidige huurcontract, 3000 levensloop regeling = 21.000 Euro
Inschatting spaargeld: 7000 Triodos aandelen, 11.000 geleend aan Rio de Bio, 14.000 aandelen Intel, 2000 deposito, 2000 betaalrekening = 36.000 Euro
Een typische dag bij het Huis aan de Brug:
Emily en/of Paulus begint met het ontbijt om 7 uur. Het wordt als buffet klaargezet in de eetkamer: yoghurt, muesli, broodjes, croissants, beleg, jam, fruit, iets lekkers uit de oven. Gasten lopen binnen tussen 7:30 en 9 uur. Ze krijgen dan verse koffee of thee en eieren naar wens. Ze kunnen aan kleine tafels in de eetkamer zitten, aan een grotere tafel in de entree hal, of buiten op het terras. We proberen een leuke sfeer te maken zodat gasten elkaar kunnen leren kennen. We bieden geen privé ontbijten aan in de kamer (ook geen televisies in de kamers, wel één in de gemeenschappelijke woonkamer.)
We ruimen de eetkamer op om 9:30, en zetten evt. koffie en thee klaar voor de pauzes bij de ochtend workshops of trainingen. Gereserveerde picknick manden zetten we ook bij. Misschien hebben we groepen in twee van de vier ruimtes. Ze kunnen de eetkamer gebruiken tussen 10:00 uur en 13:00 uur. Om 13:00 ruimen we het weer op en is de kamer klaar voor evt. gebruik als ontmoetingsruimte, of voor koffie en thee bij de namiddag pauzes.
B&B gasten zo wel als overdag gebruikers kunnen picknickmanden meenemen, tegen statiegeld, als ze van tevoren reserveren. Manden worden door De Veldkeuken dagelijks geleverd, samen met onze bestellingen voor de keuken (vooral broden.)
Tussen ontbijt en het regelen van koffie/lunch, zorgt Emily voor evt. afrekening van gasten die vertrekken. Ze ruimt de kamers op als er tijd is (anders gaat ze verder in de namiddag, of belt ze een oproepkracht als het heel druk is.) Paulus zorgt voor evt. klaarzetten van stoelen, tafels en aparatuur in de ontmoetingsruimtes, als dit niet al de avond daarvoor gedaan was.
In de namiddag, zorgt Emily voor B&B reservaties (die vooral door internet binnenkomen), en wat boekhouding en administratie. Een paar keer per week, zorgt zij voor bestellingen: groente en zuivel van de Moestuin en Kroon, melk en karnemelk van de Hondspol in Driebergen, broodjes van Zonnemaire, droogwaren en schoonmaakmiddelen van de Nieuwe Band of Varuvo, sappen en appels en peren van Kavel 55. Brood en picknickmanden en bloemen van De Veldkeuken worden dagelijks besteld. Afhankelijk van de hoeveelheid van de bestelling, wordt het aan ons geleverd, door ons opgehaald, of in samenwerking met de natuurvoedingswinkel in Bunnik (Bio Goed) geregeld.
Paulus zorgt voor het technische beheer. Alle onze meubels zijn tweede-hands (ecologisch verantwoordelijk, dus). Paulus doet evt. reparaties in de loods. In zijn vrije tijd, repareert of vernieuwd hij wat extra meubels in opdracht of gaat hij verder mijn zijn interesse in beeldhouwen. Emily in haar vrije tijd gaat verder met haar schrijven (als haar eerste boek bij de uitgever ligt, kan zij aan haar tweede beginnen...)
Iemand (één van ons, of een oproepkracht) blijft altijd bij de balie of in de omgeving om de telefoon op te nemen, de winkeltje te draaien, en/of gasten te helpen. De anderen kunnen buiten werken, in de tuin of in de loods, of de B&B kamers schoonmaken, of boodschappen doen.
In de namiddag kan ook Paulus of ik een behandeling geven. Tegen 17:30, als nieuwe mensen binnen komen voor het derde dagdeel, moet iemand weer stoelen e.d. klaarzetten. Als er geen avond reserveringen zijn, kunnen we iets extras maken in de keuken voor de “winkel” – een appeltaart of suiker-vrije brownies, bijv. Deze worden ingepakt in folie en liggen in de verkoop koeling naast de keuken. Hier kunnen mensen de hele dag een hapje of een drankje kopen, voor naast hun picknick lunch of voor later. (B&B gasten kunnen zelf thee en koffie maken de gehele dag in de gemeenschappelijke woonkamer boven.)
In de “winkel” kunnen B&B gasten en andere gebruikers wat biologische, ecologische, cultureel en/of kunst-gerelateerde spullen kopen. Sappen, noten, kleine hapjes en toetjes... wandelgids, kookboeken, boeken over het Kromme Rijn gebied, poezie... tandpasta, massage olie.... kunst artikelen, CD’s.... We zullen ook souvenirs van Het Huis aan de Brug verkopen (biologische T-shirts, briefkaarten, e.d.) Als er interesse is, kunnen we ook de water filters en lucht filters verkopen die we zelf gebruiken. (Deze winkel blijft heel kleinscalig; meer is niet nodig omdat er ook grotere winkels in de buurt zijn.)
Een paar keer per week krijgen we grotere partijen, voor een trouwerij of receptie of tentoonstelling. Voor deze, als het ook druk is in de B&B, bellen we onze oproepkracht. We nemen ook stagiaires van de Vrije School in Zeist. Waar mogelijk, gebruiken we De Veldkeuken of andere biologische catering bedrijven. Er is genoeg om te doen, met bloemen en muziek en alles in orde te houden – maar dit is ook juist leuk.
B&B gasten moeten inchecken tussen 18 uur en 22 uur (het derde dagdeel, dus) behalve als iets anders afgesproken is. Na 22 uur, gaat de voordeur op slot en gasten die al eerder ingechecked zijn mogen terug komen van hun activiteiten, maar dan moeten ze aanbellen. We hopen dat een meerdereheid van onze gasten bij ons zijn om te wandelen e.d. en niet om tot de kleine urtjes te gaan dansen, bijv. Als dat niet het geval is, dan blijft Paulus langer wakker en neemt hij regelmatig een middagdutje.
B&B gasten die weg gaan moeten voor 12:00 uitchecken. Dan hebben we minimaal tussen 12 uur en 18 uur de tijd om de kamers schoon te maken.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
update March 23
Whew. Today was a rollercoaster day.
My friend Wendy wrote with an idea for how we could raise money: sell "shares" of, say, 1000 Euro each, to friends and relatives, and at the end of each year hold a lottery and pay back, say, 10 people. I thought, hmmm, it sounds like something another friend, David, had recommended. I wasn't too hopeful that we could raise enough for the 40% that a bank needs to give a mortgage, but probably we could raise enough for start-up costs, if we could negotiate a rent-to-buy contract with the owners. It "just" involves convincing a few hundred people that we are a good risk, but I am quite certain we could do that -- this is a great project. Fun, socially and environmentally and culturally responsible, and my latest "best guess" for profit is 25,000 Euro per month (which we would then divide between banks, other lenders, and the tax man.)
I wrote back to her, and David, asking them to please tell me more.
In the meantime I had an email from Lilianne, Nellie and Victor's real estate agent. She was glad to hear that I am actively busy, but wanted to have a clearer idea how it was shaping up for us financially. The owners, she said, were not really that interested in any option other than selling the house. Reading between the lines, I got the idea that they were getting impatient and perhaps had other potential buyers. Oh dear. All my work and dreams for nothing?
Luckily I also had an email from David. He "scolded" me: what am I doing, putting limits on what is possible before I even start? Why do I think I can't raise 40% of two million in a creative way? He explained more, and I followed up with some internet research... (I hope I got it right, David...): his recommended way of starting up a new business is called working with seed capital. A person goes around to lots of regular folks, convinces them that he has a great business idea, and asks if they can lend a small amount of money to get it started. 500 Euro, say, or any multiple of that. If the person says yes, then you agree on the details: how long can they spare the money and can they lend it interest-free, perhaps in exchange for a gift-certificate at the future business? You put everything in a contract and sign it. Then, when you a nice collection of contracts, you go to bigger investors and see if they will join in. And after that you go to a bank. In the end, a typical division is 33% seed capital, 33% bigger investor(s), and 33% bank. And, David has a financial advisor whom he recommends highly, who could explain more and help us out. So....
I wrote an email back to Lilianne (with copies to Wendy and David and others) saying, we understand that a rent-to-buy arrangement is less than ideal (although if it wasn't 100% off the table, we could get some expert advice from Paulien in Deventer on how to set that up...) And if they have other potential buyers with money in hand, naturally that is more interesting than waiting for us to gather our finances. But that we still have hope, thanks to this seed capital idea. I explained the 25,000 per month expected profit, and that I am almost done with a first version of our business plan, which we will take to several experts for their feedback. If they can confirm that our numbers are realistic, then we can approach people more confidently to ask for seed capital. And PS to David: yes! please connect us with your financial advisor!
My friend Wendy wrote with an idea for how we could raise money: sell "shares" of, say, 1000 Euro each, to friends and relatives, and at the end of each year hold a lottery and pay back, say, 10 people. I thought, hmmm, it sounds like something another friend, David, had recommended. I wasn't too hopeful that we could raise enough for the 40% that a bank needs to give a mortgage, but probably we could raise enough for start-up costs, if we could negotiate a rent-to-buy contract with the owners. It "just" involves convincing a few hundred people that we are a good risk, but I am quite certain we could do that -- this is a great project. Fun, socially and environmentally and culturally responsible, and my latest "best guess" for profit is 25,000 Euro per month (which we would then divide between banks, other lenders, and the tax man.)
I wrote back to her, and David, asking them to please tell me more.
In the meantime I had an email from Lilianne, Nellie and Victor's real estate agent. She was glad to hear that I am actively busy, but wanted to have a clearer idea how it was shaping up for us financially. The owners, she said, were not really that interested in any option other than selling the house. Reading between the lines, I got the idea that they were getting impatient and perhaps had other potential buyers. Oh dear. All my work and dreams for nothing?
Luckily I also had an email from David. He "scolded" me: what am I doing, putting limits on what is possible before I even start? Why do I think I can't raise 40% of two million in a creative way? He explained more, and I followed up with some internet research... (I hope I got it right, David...): his recommended way of starting up a new business is called working with seed capital. A person goes around to lots of regular folks, convinces them that he has a great business idea, and asks if they can lend a small amount of money to get it started. 500 Euro, say, or any multiple of that. If the person says yes, then you agree on the details: how long can they spare the money and can they lend it interest-free, perhaps in exchange for a gift-certificate at the future business? You put everything in a contract and sign it. Then, when you a nice collection of contracts, you go to bigger investors and see if they will join in. And after that you go to a bank. In the end, a typical division is 33% seed capital, 33% bigger investor(s), and 33% bank. And, David has a financial advisor whom he recommends highly, who could explain more and help us out. So....
I wrote an email back to Lilianne (with copies to Wendy and David and others) saying, we understand that a rent-to-buy arrangement is less than ideal (although if it wasn't 100% off the table, we could get some expert advice from Paulien in Deventer on how to set that up...) And if they have other potential buyers with money in hand, naturally that is more interesting than waiting for us to gather our finances. But that we still have hope, thanks to this seed capital idea. I explained the 25,000 per month expected profit, and that I am almost done with a first version of our business plan, which we will take to several experts for their feedback. If they can confirm that our numbers are realistic, then we can approach people more confidently to ask for seed capital. And PS to David: yes! please connect us with your financial advisor!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
pictures at last!
Yippee! I figured out how to import several pictures into one blog entry and put text around them! And I got caught up on all the updates! So now I'm going to switch gears and send out some more emails. If you are just hearing from me now and checking out these blogs for the first time, here's a quick summary: Paulus and I are in love... with each other of course... but also with an amazing house in Bunnik. If all goes well we will be living there by next Christmas! (in fulfillment of a resolution/affirmation we made last Christmas...) It will take a few small miracles to achieve that, but we believe in miracles (and we are also willing to work very very hard.) I've been researching and writing and blogging and mailing like crazy, and some of that effort you can see here below. If you want to follow it chronologically, use the archive on the right and start at the bottom... "We've found a new house?"
This is the view of the house from across the Kromme Rijn. The little brick house on the side with the chimney was formerly a bakery -- it is now attached to the main house with a hallway. We would use that little house as our bedroom.
Here is what the bakery house looks like inside. Notice the old oven on the left.
This is the view of the house from the street. This is the dead-end section of the Dorpsstraat. To the left, outside the picture, is a cute bridge over the Kromme Rijn. Looking at the house, on the ground floor are windows to one of our potential meeting rooms and the dining room. Above on the left (windows blocked by the trees) are the B&B bedrooms. The midle area that comes forward would be our main entrance. To the right of the main entrance is the other half of the house, not visible in this photo. That's where the two big halls are.
This is the big hall on the ground floor (there's floor heating under the tiles.) It is a huge room. Try to imagine it without all the antiques! Although many of them are beautiful and if we have the finances to buy some, we will! Especially a few large wooden wardrobes and a long dining table... Victor Couwenbergh and his wife Nellie have put a lot of love and attention into their antique showroom and restoration business and you can really "feel" the good energy in the building. Who knows? Maybe we could arrange to "babysit" some nice antiques, in addition to a grand piano (via Anne and Robert... see previous entry)! And if we pursue the art gallery angle, with paintings and sculptures on display and for sale, maybe we could do that for some antiques as well. Everyone wins: extra sales and no storage fees for Victor and Nellie, nice ambiance for us and our guests....
This is the big hall on the second floor (or first floor, as they call it in Europe...) Again, imagine it without furniture! We would make it an open space, with folding chairs and mats and meditation cushions available in the storage areas under the eves. We would also change the color to something more neutral/meditative, and put wall sconce lighting and floor lamps. The window at the back opens out onto the emergency exit and staircase -- we would probably make that more available for people to use (but not to go out onto to have a cigarette!)
This is *not* from "our" house but from Samaya Conferentie Centrum, where I went for a visit. This is the kind of sphere I'd like to create, though, in the upstairs hall. Could be a challenge of course because we don't have all the windows...
This is the back of the house, with terrace. We would replace the big window with double patio doors into the large ground floor hall (an idea of the Victor's, which we thought was great.) There is another single door to the right, into the same hall. The door on the left goes into a work area that Victor set up with a temporary wall along one side of the large hall. We would probably keep that temporary wall (or most of it) and make the work area into a professional kitchen area. The door will be handy for deliveries. If we do catering or receptions in the large hall, that will be the perfect place for a kitchen. To the right, outside of the picture, is the vegetable garden and after that the river.
Here it is, the vegetable garden, with raised beds even! I've been wishing for a vegetable garden space ever since coming to Holland. We have a nice garden now (and all the bulbs and perenials will be lovingly dug up and brought with us) but we've never had sun and ground in the right place for veggies. So this is fantastic. Nellie said that this area could be dug up and covered with terrace tiles if someone didn't want to be bothered with the vegetable garden, and I said, no way! Beyond the garden is the bakery house (our bedroom) with its own little terrace and grape trellis. We would put our hot tub on that terrace.
There are more pictures at http://www.funda.nl/woningaanbod/koop/Detail/Fotos/?id=804edf5a-1a2c-44bd-b994-d4ecfd8d9499&objecttype=DetailKoopObject but I am going to stop with the downloading for now....
This is the view of the house from across the Kromme Rijn. The little brick house on the side with the chimney was formerly a bakery -- it is now attached to the main house with a hallway. We would use that little house as our bedroom.Here is what the bakery house looks like inside. Notice the old oven on the left.This is the view of the house from the street. This is the dead-end section of the Dorpsstraat. To the left, outside the picture, is a cute bridge over the Kromme Rijn. Looking at the house, on the ground floor are windows to one of our potential meeting rooms and the dining room. Above on the left (windows blocked by the trees) are the B&B bedrooms. The midle area that comes forward would be our main entrance. To the right of the main entrance is the other half of the house, not visible in this photo. That's where the two big halls are.This is the big hall on the ground floor (there's floor heating under the tiles.) It is a huge room. Try to imagine it without all the antiques! Although many of them are beautiful and if we have the finances to buy some, we will! Especially a few large wooden wardrobes and a long dining table... Victor Couwenbergh and his wife Nellie have put a lot of love and attention into their antique showroom and restoration business and you can really "feel" the good energy in the building. Who knows? Maybe we could arrange to "babysit" some nice antiques, in addition to a grand piano (via Anne and Robert... see previous entry)! And if we pursue the art gallery angle, with paintings and sculptures on display and for sale, maybe we could do that for some antiques as well. Everyone wins: extra sales and no storage fees for Victor and Nellie, nice ambiance for us and our guests....
This is the big hall on the second floor (or first floor, as they call it in Europe...) Again, imagine it without furniture! We would make it an open space, with folding chairs and mats and meditation cushions available in the storage areas under the eves. We would also change the color to something more neutral/meditative, and put wall sconce lighting and floor lamps. The window at the back opens out onto the emergency exit and staircase -- we would probably make that more available for people to use (but not to go out onto to have a cigarette!)
This is *not* from "our" house but from Samaya Conferentie Centrum, where I went for a visit. This is the kind of sphere I'd like to create, though, in the upstairs hall. Could be a challenge of course because we don't have all the windows...
This is the back of the house, with terrace. We would replace the big window with double patio doors into the large ground floor hall (an idea of the Victor's, which we thought was great.) There is another single door to the right, into the same hall. The door on the left goes into a work area that Victor set up with a temporary wall along one side of the large hall. We would probably keep that temporary wall (or most of it) and make the work area into a professional kitchen area. The door will be handy for deliveries. If we do catering or receptions in the large hall, that will be the perfect place for a kitchen. To the right, outside of the picture, is the vegetable garden and after that the river.
Here it is, the vegetable garden, with raised beds even! I've been wishing for a vegetable garden space ever since coming to Holland. We have a nice garden now (and all the bulbs and perenials will be lovingly dug up and brought with us) but we've never had sun and ground in the right place for veggies. So this is fantastic. Nellie said that this area could be dug up and covered with terrace tiles if someone didn't want to be bothered with the vegetable garden, and I said, no way! Beyond the garden is the bakery house (our bedroom) with its own little terrace and grape trellis. We would put our hot tub on that terrace.There are more pictures at http://www.funda.nl/woningaanbod/koop/Detail/Fotos/?id=804edf5a-1a2c-44bd-b994-d4ecfd8d9499&objecttype=DetailKoopObject but I am going to stop with the downloading for now....
March 16 to 22! trying to get caught up!
Well, there's still lots to tell, in our on-going adventure, trying to buy a beautiful old house in Bunnik, the Netherlands. And I know, I need to import some photos! But today is Sunday and I don't have appointments in the agenda, so I hope to make good progress.
Tuesday March 17: We went to a network evening hosted by the Utrecht Ondernemers Academy (a school for people starting a business, which Paulus and I attended last year.) They had several guest speakers tell about their companies, and then a networking exercise: we divided into groups, made circles, and had 60 seconds to tell the person opposite us about ourselves before the circles rotated. At the end, we had time to search out the people who were most interesting and have longer conversations. Like speed dating. Artifical, but very efficient and effective. As long as the moderator manages it all correctly. Our moderator had a microphone with a lot of static and he kept up a sort of running commentary (in Dutch, naturally)... "okay everyone, that was the bell, time to rotate, go on, finish up your conversation, keep it simple, don't forget to listen to the other person, don't worry, you'll get more time later to talk, isn't this fun?" It was not helpful at all. I had 30 seconds to cover who I am, what I do now, and what we're hoping to do in the future, in Dutch, while shouting to be heard over the moderator and not getting distracted by his chatter. I was torn between wanting to burst into tears and wanting to throw something at the guy. At one point as he was walking by, I asked him politely if he could please talk less because he was taking away from our networking time, and he just brushed off my request with a laugh and "you'll just need to talk faster!"
So it was a small miracle that we actually came away with some good contacts. Utrecht is full of coaches and trainers (for everyone from stressed-out housewives to workers looking to change career paths to CEOs wanting to improve company performance) and they all need a place to give their workshops, etc. Several of the ones we met asked, how soon will your rooms be ready? (they aren't so fond of the spaces they use now and are looking for something better.) We had to say, hold on, we don't even know yet if we can buy the house! We also met some nice graphic arts type people and caught up with some people from our own class.
Tuesday night I called my mom to ask if she had been following my blogs and if she had any feelings about the whole project. She loves the building, of course (as a life-long member of multiple historical preservation organizations...) but the financial scale is overwhelming for her. She could help us out a bit (enough to add a bathroom and kitchen, for example) but not enough to make a down payment. She and my dad recently got the opportunity to buy the land beside and behind their house, which they've been wanting to buy since they first moved there. (I remember that move: I was 4 years old, so that's 41 years they've been trying to buy that land...) Clearly it makes sense for her to focus on her own backyard and not a property half a world away....
She asked me, why don't we consider moving to Detroit? I laughed, but she was serious. Apparently there are a lot of good housing deals in Detroit because of the housing crisis. She sent a newspaper article about it, which I got yesterday. It told about a man who bought a one-bedroom house for 1000 dollars or so. It was in terrible shape (scavengers had broken in to it and stripped it of everything of value, including all the copper plumbing) but he was going to rebuild from scratch and put in solar panels. He contacted some starving-artist type friends who bought the four neighboring houses and together they put in a community garden and are working on a power grid to connect the whole little neighborhood to alternative power. It actually does look kind of cool.
So why not move to Detroit? It is worth thinking about.
If we moved to the US and bought a small, cheap, fixer-upper house, we wouldn't have the debt involved with buying a big, expensive house here. But we would still need jobs, to pay the monthly bills and the repair costs. What jobs could we get in the US, particularly in the communities where the housing crisis is the most severe? Paulus can do handiman work, but he wouldn't be licensed or insured. I could, well, work at McDonalds I suppose. I don't imagine that people in those communities would be banging down the door for Shiatsu treatments (people are lucky if they have insurance that covers regular doctors; insurance that covers alternative treatments is almost non-existent.) Translating from Dutch to English is also probably not in high demand. B&B? Not likely. Especially in a small house that would be filled with construction dust for several years. But living in a small, green, innovating community would be good. Nice neighbors, a roof over our heads even if it needs repair, and no major debts.
Contrast: Bunnik (or a similar large house in the Randstad): With a B&B and rooms for rent, we would have enough income to pay for the building and monthly costs without having to work other jobs. If we do it right. Of course, there is a lot of debt, and there is also the risk that the business would fail and we would end up in a really terrible situation. But, we would be doing work that we love and that we are highly motivated to do well.
I guess the big difference is the work. If we were just looking for affordable housing, with a few plusses like interesting neighbors, something like Detroit would be fine. But we are looking for our Dream House, or more accurately our Dream Situation. We want to make careers for ourselves as people who create The Right Kind of Space, for patients and guests and visitors. A place that supports good health, rest, community, the arts, the environment, international friendships. As a bonus, we get to live there also. If that is our professional goal, the location and setting are of primary importance. But yes, it is a Big Dream and not all dreams come true.
Wednesday March 18: We drove to Deventer, a city about an hour east and north of Utrecht, to meet with Paulien from the bedandbreakfast.nl forum. (www.vastgoedlocatiescout.nl) She gave us a tour of her bed and breakfast (two rooms, each 95 Euro per night) and looked at our photos and drawings from the house in Bunnik. Our first question was, as a B&B owner and a real estate agent specializing in B&B's and similar properties, would she recommend trying to buy the house in Bunnik? Or would she recommend another province, another city, another type of house, another price, another time....? She answered immediately, yes. The house in Bunnik. Now. It is a great time to be entering the B&B market, the location is perfect, the house is perfect, it would definitely work. She looked more carefully at my spreadsheets and recommended that we either lower the prices on the bedrooms with shared bathrooms or try to add extra facilities. A shared toilet in the hallway is not a problem for most people, but guests really prefer to be able to shower in their own space. We'll need to make some choices about marketing to the "eco-tourist" market segment versus to the "cultural elite."
Then we talked about finances and the news was less encouraging. Paulien said that banks these days are asking for "guarantie" (security deposits) of around 40% of the mortgage amount -- we're talking roughly 800,000 Euro! Geez. If we had that kind of money lying around, it would mean that we were already well-established, well-known, super-rich people (movie stars, lawyers, bankers) and I doubt that we'd be interested in starting up an eco-B&B-plus-more and working 14 hour days 7 days a week at it. Paulien encouraged us to keep working on our business plan and spreadsheets, though, because you never know how it might pay off in the future. She was very impressed with my full binder -- no one with the idea of buying a B&B has shown up to talk with her, with so much documentation and research. And I agree, I'm going to keep working on it, because it is quite possible that the University friends of Ron's, or Jaap from Non-nobis, might have some creative ideas about how to go further.
But Paulien also said, if we finish our plan and we have people who can help with the start up costs, that renting the house from the owners might actually turn out to be a good option, for everyone involved. She has a lot of experience writing up these kinds of contracts. You need to anticipate all the possibilities (how many years? do we get the option to buy, or are we required to buy, at the end of the rental period, and for what price? do we pay extra rent above what the owners need themselves, into a pot that then becomes our downpayment, or do we pay extra rent in exchange for a lower purchase price at the end, or neither? how do we divide maintenance and renovation costs? what if we get sick or die or discover we hate living there?) We had thought about renting earlier, and had mentioned it one time to Victor and Nellie, and it remains a theoretical possibility. But we had all put it on the back burner, because of all these complicated questions. Maybe with Paulien's help it wouldn't have to be so complicated. She could work with the owner's real estate agent, Lilianne, to lay out all the risks and options.
All in all, it was a great visit. Pauline was very friendly and helpful (and clear about her costs: we can stay in touch with her and if we decide to hire her to work out something, we'll make a contract beforehand.) We will definitely use her if we end up going further, and can certainly recommend her to anyone else thinking about buying a B&B.
Wednesday afternoon, I contacted our insurance company and they were able to estimate what our insurance costs in Bunnik would be. Everything together came to around 350 Euro per month: for the building, glass windows, the contents including hi-tech installations, the garden, "rechtbijstand" (legal coverage if you have to go to court for some reason) and "bedrijfsaansprakkelijkheid" (if the business causes any damage or is responsible for some kind of trouble). Quite reasonable, I thought.
I did some surfing at www.marktplaats.nl to see what kinds of second-hand furnishings were easily available. Answer: everything! 390 listings under business goods for sale > horeca > furnishings. 35 hotel beds for 50 Euro each. Lamps and tables and linens and place settings... everything, for reasonable prices. I also discovered a website called www.oplocatie.nl. It's a national site with every imaginable location for meetings, business events, conferences and so forth. It would cost 200 Euro to be listed there, which might be worthwhile -- but at least I can use that site to find out what else is available in the area, to help us decide how to set our prices.
Thursday evening we had B&B guests here again, Gert and Inneke, and told them all about our plans. They thought it sounded great. They travel a lot in Holland for work and recreation and always stay in B&B's because they like the contact with people. Gert also does trainings in and around Bunnik, so he was able to tell us a bit about that. At the Mercure hotel, on the highway in Bunnik, their company paid 1000 Euro to use a conference room for about 20 people. That was for a day (two "dagdeel"s) and included lunch. If you subtract about 25 Euro per person for the lunch, and divide by 2, that comes to 250 Euro per dagdeel. My estimated income for a room that size in "our" house was 150 Euro per dagdeel. So, maybe I can increase that number in my spreadsheet. Plus if we offered exactly the same package, we would also make a bit of profit on the lunches. Overall, good news.
But the best news from Gert and Inneke is that they are both amateur musicians. We told them about the small house concerts we've had here on the Groenedijk. They were really excited about our idea to continue and expand that tradition in Bunnik. Gert said to stay in touch, and he will bring his saxaphone and his jazz quartet up to play for us!
On Friday, March 20, I went to sing in the evening, with a choir made up of students and teachers (and former teachers, like me) from the Christelijk Gymnasium in Utrecht. (a school where I taught English for 3 months as a substitute teacher.) I was chatting with some of the other teachers, and learned that our conductor, Marina, also conducts a choir... in Bunnik! They sing at the church across the street from "our" new house! So I went to talk to her after our performance. Yes, it is a great choir, lots of nice people, and I would be very welcome to join. It wasn't clear to me if they needed extra rehearsal or performance space, but it was good to hear that people in Bunnik like music. I feel positive about being able to attract musicians and music-lovers to "our" house.
Our friends Anne and Robert, from www.pianoguitar.com, say they can probably get us a grand piano to babysit. They have a friend in Amsterdam who is storing 4 grand pianos in his house, for free, on the condition that he is allowed to play them and use them for house concerts. But this friend is going to move, and those 4 people will have to find new homes for their pianos. If we could take care of one of these, that would be so great! We would keep it in the large downstairs hall, which has floor heating under tile and opens onto the terrace. We already imagine using that room for receptions and dinners and small concerts and performances. (My Yamaha electric piano could live in the upstairs hall, where we imagine quieter activities will happen, like workshops, wedding ceremonies and meditation classes.)
Saturday, March 21: After work, I drove to Houten to visit a B&B that was having an "open door." That B&B is called Centraal Groen and is run by a super-friendly woman named Laura. I thought, I'm not going to pretend that I'm a local looking for a place for family members to stay. I told her our plans, and she reacted just the way I had hoped: very positively. It turns out she is a member of Terecht Anders, as well as the B&B website we already use, and she is very happy to work cooperatively with other B&B's in the area. In fact, a good friend of hers has a B&B in a neighboring town and had her own business cards there on a table. Awesome. I am so happy to be finding people everywhere who see us as potential friends rather than potential competitors. Certainly we can all help each other out -- there is enough business for everyone.
After visiting Houten, I drove back to Bunnik and explored some of the residential areas and the back road up to Zeist. I was amazed... I followed the road out of Bunnik going north, and after a few minutes there was a speed limit sign, saying to slow down because I was entering... Zeist? No it couldn't be, I thought, it is too soon, I just left Bunnik. There must be some other little town between Bunnik and Zeist. But yes, it was Zeist. The road from Bunnik is called Koelaan (cow lane) and winds through beautiful farmland. It enters Zeist on the south side at the Zeist Castle, with its lovely mote and park and tree-lined avenues. It was something out of a fairy tale almost. I tried to imagine what we'd say to international guests: "Well, you could rent a canoe today and go visit the old fort at Rhijnauwen, or the tea house at Amelisweerd, or Fort Vechten. Or you could go by bicycle to the castle in Zeist and explore their charming city center. A little further away in the other direction are Odijk and Werkhoven, two typical small Dutch towns, and beyond that is Wijk bij Duurstede, with its old church and windmill...." It is so idealic.
My last stop on Saturday was the moestuin (vegetable garden) at Maarschalkerweerd, near the stadium and canoe rental business in Utrecht. (www.moestuinutrecht.nl) Pieter, the manager, wasn't there, but I talked with the woman running the shop. I told her I used to be a volunteer there, back when there were basically just the two greenhouses, a couple of run-down trailers, and a breakroom with toilets. It has really changed in five years! Now there's a children's play area, a petting zoo, bee house, herb garden, carpentry workshop, picnic area and terrace and tea room and area to buy vegetables and fruit and other organic food. It is really nicely done, with large windows and attractive wooden furniture and a great ambiance (with flowers and newspapers on the tables...) The older of the two greenhouses, with grape vines and kiwi plants, is now in use as a meeting room for businesses and parties, especially children's birthday parties. I know Pieter had to work very hard to get the whole project off the ground, and he needed lots of sponsors and volunteers. I hope he will have some tips for us, and maybe ideas how we can work together.
I just looked at the map again with Paulus, and it turns out that the Kromme Rijn continues on, past the Moestuin and the canoe rental place, into the heart of Utrecht, and in particular right to the Ledig Erf, a cafe/bar run by Eddie, an old friend of Paulus'. Paulus had just gone by Eddie's to take measurements and stuff for some work that needs to be done there. Business is booming at the Ledig Erf -- roughly double what it was last year. Eddie has been wondering what he might do to next -- he doesn't really have a kitchen, and his terrace is already full, so he's been thinking about offering picnic baskets for customers, who could take them to the park area next to the river... I joked with Paulus, we should set up something with Eddie and the Veldkeuken and the Moestuin and the canoe place... cooperate with food and marketing... set up a tour... people stay at our place, have breakfast, get in their canoes with a map and a picnic basket, stop for coffee at the Pannenkoeken huis at Rhijnauwen, then tea at the Veldkeuken, then coffee at the moestuin, then a beer at Ledig Erf, then return their canoes and go home, or come back to us for another night.... I said it as a joke, because I don't really think of the crowd at the Ledig Erf as being the same sort of people who like canoeing and organic food -- but who knows? The sandwiches and foccacia and stuffed pita breads from the Veldkeuken are so delicious, I'm sure Eddie could sell them to his clients, and even people from our eco/organic market segment probably like a beer now and then, and we're all connected by the Kromme Rijn, so why not try?
Whew! Caught up! Now for some pictures!
Tuesday March 17: We went to a network evening hosted by the Utrecht Ondernemers Academy (a school for people starting a business, which Paulus and I attended last year.) They had several guest speakers tell about their companies, and then a networking exercise: we divided into groups, made circles, and had 60 seconds to tell the person opposite us about ourselves before the circles rotated. At the end, we had time to search out the people who were most interesting and have longer conversations. Like speed dating. Artifical, but very efficient and effective. As long as the moderator manages it all correctly. Our moderator had a microphone with a lot of static and he kept up a sort of running commentary (in Dutch, naturally)... "okay everyone, that was the bell, time to rotate, go on, finish up your conversation, keep it simple, don't forget to listen to the other person, don't worry, you'll get more time later to talk, isn't this fun?" It was not helpful at all. I had 30 seconds to cover who I am, what I do now, and what we're hoping to do in the future, in Dutch, while shouting to be heard over the moderator and not getting distracted by his chatter. I was torn between wanting to burst into tears and wanting to throw something at the guy. At one point as he was walking by, I asked him politely if he could please talk less because he was taking away from our networking time, and he just brushed off my request with a laugh and "you'll just need to talk faster!"
So it was a small miracle that we actually came away with some good contacts. Utrecht is full of coaches and trainers (for everyone from stressed-out housewives to workers looking to change career paths to CEOs wanting to improve company performance) and they all need a place to give their workshops, etc. Several of the ones we met asked, how soon will your rooms be ready? (they aren't so fond of the spaces they use now and are looking for something better.) We had to say, hold on, we don't even know yet if we can buy the house! We also met some nice graphic arts type people and caught up with some people from our own class.
Tuesday night I called my mom to ask if she had been following my blogs and if she had any feelings about the whole project. She loves the building, of course (as a life-long member of multiple historical preservation organizations...) but the financial scale is overwhelming for her. She could help us out a bit (enough to add a bathroom and kitchen, for example) but not enough to make a down payment. She and my dad recently got the opportunity to buy the land beside and behind their house, which they've been wanting to buy since they first moved there. (I remember that move: I was 4 years old, so that's 41 years they've been trying to buy that land...) Clearly it makes sense for her to focus on her own backyard and not a property half a world away....
She asked me, why don't we consider moving to Detroit? I laughed, but she was serious. Apparently there are a lot of good housing deals in Detroit because of the housing crisis. She sent a newspaper article about it, which I got yesterday. It told about a man who bought a one-bedroom house for 1000 dollars or so. It was in terrible shape (scavengers had broken in to it and stripped it of everything of value, including all the copper plumbing) but he was going to rebuild from scratch and put in solar panels. He contacted some starving-artist type friends who bought the four neighboring houses and together they put in a community garden and are working on a power grid to connect the whole little neighborhood to alternative power. It actually does look kind of cool.
So why not move to Detroit? It is worth thinking about.
If we moved to the US and bought a small, cheap, fixer-upper house, we wouldn't have the debt involved with buying a big, expensive house here. But we would still need jobs, to pay the monthly bills and the repair costs. What jobs could we get in the US, particularly in the communities where the housing crisis is the most severe? Paulus can do handiman work, but he wouldn't be licensed or insured. I could, well, work at McDonalds I suppose. I don't imagine that people in those communities would be banging down the door for Shiatsu treatments (people are lucky if they have insurance that covers regular doctors; insurance that covers alternative treatments is almost non-existent.) Translating from Dutch to English is also probably not in high demand. B&B? Not likely. Especially in a small house that would be filled with construction dust for several years. But living in a small, green, innovating community would be good. Nice neighbors, a roof over our heads even if it needs repair, and no major debts.
Contrast: Bunnik (or a similar large house in the Randstad): With a B&B and rooms for rent, we would have enough income to pay for the building and monthly costs without having to work other jobs. If we do it right. Of course, there is a lot of debt, and there is also the risk that the business would fail and we would end up in a really terrible situation. But, we would be doing work that we love and that we are highly motivated to do well.
I guess the big difference is the work. If we were just looking for affordable housing, with a few plusses like interesting neighbors, something like Detroit would be fine. But we are looking for our Dream House, or more accurately our Dream Situation. We want to make careers for ourselves as people who create The Right Kind of Space, for patients and guests and visitors. A place that supports good health, rest, community, the arts, the environment, international friendships. As a bonus, we get to live there also. If that is our professional goal, the location and setting are of primary importance. But yes, it is a Big Dream and not all dreams come true.
Wednesday March 18: We drove to Deventer, a city about an hour east and north of Utrecht, to meet with Paulien from the bedandbreakfast.nl forum. (www.vastgoedlocatiescout.nl) She gave us a tour of her bed and breakfast (two rooms, each 95 Euro per night) and looked at our photos and drawings from the house in Bunnik. Our first question was, as a B&B owner and a real estate agent specializing in B&B's and similar properties, would she recommend trying to buy the house in Bunnik? Or would she recommend another province, another city, another type of house, another price, another time....? She answered immediately, yes. The house in Bunnik. Now. It is a great time to be entering the B&B market, the location is perfect, the house is perfect, it would definitely work. She looked more carefully at my spreadsheets and recommended that we either lower the prices on the bedrooms with shared bathrooms or try to add extra facilities. A shared toilet in the hallway is not a problem for most people, but guests really prefer to be able to shower in their own space. We'll need to make some choices about marketing to the "eco-tourist" market segment versus to the "cultural elite."
Then we talked about finances and the news was less encouraging. Paulien said that banks these days are asking for "guarantie" (security deposits) of around 40% of the mortgage amount -- we're talking roughly 800,000 Euro! Geez. If we had that kind of money lying around, it would mean that we were already well-established, well-known, super-rich people (movie stars, lawyers, bankers) and I doubt that we'd be interested in starting up an eco-B&B-plus-more and working 14 hour days 7 days a week at it. Paulien encouraged us to keep working on our business plan and spreadsheets, though, because you never know how it might pay off in the future. She was very impressed with my full binder -- no one with the idea of buying a B&B has shown up to talk with her, with so much documentation and research. And I agree, I'm going to keep working on it, because it is quite possible that the University friends of Ron's, or Jaap from Non-nobis, might have some creative ideas about how to go further.
But Paulien also said, if we finish our plan and we have people who can help with the start up costs, that renting the house from the owners might actually turn out to be a good option, for everyone involved. She has a lot of experience writing up these kinds of contracts. You need to anticipate all the possibilities (how many years? do we get the option to buy, or are we required to buy, at the end of the rental period, and for what price? do we pay extra rent above what the owners need themselves, into a pot that then becomes our downpayment, or do we pay extra rent in exchange for a lower purchase price at the end, or neither? how do we divide maintenance and renovation costs? what if we get sick or die or discover we hate living there?) We had thought about renting earlier, and had mentioned it one time to Victor and Nellie, and it remains a theoretical possibility. But we had all put it on the back burner, because of all these complicated questions. Maybe with Paulien's help it wouldn't have to be so complicated. She could work with the owner's real estate agent, Lilianne, to lay out all the risks and options.
All in all, it was a great visit. Pauline was very friendly and helpful (and clear about her costs: we can stay in touch with her and if we decide to hire her to work out something, we'll make a contract beforehand.) We will definitely use her if we end up going further, and can certainly recommend her to anyone else thinking about buying a B&B.
Wednesday afternoon, I contacted our insurance company and they were able to estimate what our insurance costs in Bunnik would be. Everything together came to around 350 Euro per month: for the building, glass windows, the contents including hi-tech installations, the garden, "rechtbijstand" (legal coverage if you have to go to court for some reason) and "bedrijfsaansprakkelijkheid" (if the business causes any damage or is responsible for some kind of trouble). Quite reasonable, I thought.
I did some surfing at www.marktplaats.nl to see what kinds of second-hand furnishings were easily available. Answer: everything! 390 listings under business goods for sale > horeca > furnishings. 35 hotel beds for 50 Euro each. Lamps and tables and linens and place settings... everything, for reasonable prices. I also discovered a website called www.oplocatie.nl. It's a national site with every imaginable location for meetings, business events, conferences and so forth. It would cost 200 Euro to be listed there, which might be worthwhile -- but at least I can use that site to find out what else is available in the area, to help us decide how to set our prices.
Thursday evening we had B&B guests here again, Gert and Inneke, and told them all about our plans. They thought it sounded great. They travel a lot in Holland for work and recreation and always stay in B&B's because they like the contact with people. Gert also does trainings in and around Bunnik, so he was able to tell us a bit about that. At the Mercure hotel, on the highway in Bunnik, their company paid 1000 Euro to use a conference room for about 20 people. That was for a day (two "dagdeel"s) and included lunch. If you subtract about 25 Euro per person for the lunch, and divide by 2, that comes to 250 Euro per dagdeel. My estimated income for a room that size in "our" house was 150 Euro per dagdeel. So, maybe I can increase that number in my spreadsheet. Plus if we offered exactly the same package, we would also make a bit of profit on the lunches. Overall, good news.
But the best news from Gert and Inneke is that they are both amateur musicians. We told them about the small house concerts we've had here on the Groenedijk. They were really excited about our idea to continue and expand that tradition in Bunnik. Gert said to stay in touch, and he will bring his saxaphone and his jazz quartet up to play for us!
On Friday, March 20, I went to sing in the evening, with a choir made up of students and teachers (and former teachers, like me) from the Christelijk Gymnasium in Utrecht. (a school where I taught English for 3 months as a substitute teacher.) I was chatting with some of the other teachers, and learned that our conductor, Marina, also conducts a choir... in Bunnik! They sing at the church across the street from "our" new house! So I went to talk to her after our performance. Yes, it is a great choir, lots of nice people, and I would be very welcome to join. It wasn't clear to me if they needed extra rehearsal or performance space, but it was good to hear that people in Bunnik like music. I feel positive about being able to attract musicians and music-lovers to "our" house.
Our friends Anne and Robert, from www.pianoguitar.com, say they can probably get us a grand piano to babysit. They have a friend in Amsterdam who is storing 4 grand pianos in his house, for free, on the condition that he is allowed to play them and use them for house concerts. But this friend is going to move, and those 4 people will have to find new homes for their pianos. If we could take care of one of these, that would be so great! We would keep it in the large downstairs hall, which has floor heating under tile and opens onto the terrace. We already imagine using that room for receptions and dinners and small concerts and performances. (My Yamaha electric piano could live in the upstairs hall, where we imagine quieter activities will happen, like workshops, wedding ceremonies and meditation classes.)
Saturday, March 21: After work, I drove to Houten to visit a B&B that was having an "open door." That B&B is called Centraal Groen and is run by a super-friendly woman named Laura. I thought, I'm not going to pretend that I'm a local looking for a place for family members to stay. I told her our plans, and she reacted just the way I had hoped: very positively. It turns out she is a member of Terecht Anders, as well as the B&B website we already use, and she is very happy to work cooperatively with other B&B's in the area. In fact, a good friend of hers has a B&B in a neighboring town and had her own business cards there on a table. Awesome. I am so happy to be finding people everywhere who see us as potential friends rather than potential competitors. Certainly we can all help each other out -- there is enough business for everyone.
After visiting Houten, I drove back to Bunnik and explored some of the residential areas and the back road up to Zeist. I was amazed... I followed the road out of Bunnik going north, and after a few minutes there was a speed limit sign, saying to slow down because I was entering... Zeist? No it couldn't be, I thought, it is too soon, I just left Bunnik. There must be some other little town between Bunnik and Zeist. But yes, it was Zeist. The road from Bunnik is called Koelaan (cow lane) and winds through beautiful farmland. It enters Zeist on the south side at the Zeist Castle, with its lovely mote and park and tree-lined avenues. It was something out of a fairy tale almost. I tried to imagine what we'd say to international guests: "Well, you could rent a canoe today and go visit the old fort at Rhijnauwen, or the tea house at Amelisweerd, or Fort Vechten. Or you could go by bicycle to the castle in Zeist and explore their charming city center. A little further away in the other direction are Odijk and Werkhoven, two typical small Dutch towns, and beyond that is Wijk bij Duurstede, with its old church and windmill...." It is so idealic.
My last stop on Saturday was the moestuin (vegetable garden) at Maarschalkerweerd, near the stadium and canoe rental business in Utrecht. (www.moestuinutrecht.nl) Pieter, the manager, wasn't there, but I talked with the woman running the shop. I told her I used to be a volunteer there, back when there were basically just the two greenhouses, a couple of run-down trailers, and a breakroom with toilets. It has really changed in five years! Now there's a children's play area, a petting zoo, bee house, herb garden, carpentry workshop, picnic area and terrace and tea room and area to buy vegetables and fruit and other organic food. It is really nicely done, with large windows and attractive wooden furniture and a great ambiance (with flowers and newspapers on the tables...) The older of the two greenhouses, with grape vines and kiwi plants, is now in use as a meeting room for businesses and parties, especially children's birthday parties. I know Pieter had to work very hard to get the whole project off the ground, and he needed lots of sponsors and volunteers. I hope he will have some tips for us, and maybe ideas how we can work together.
I just looked at the map again with Paulus, and it turns out that the Kromme Rijn continues on, past the Moestuin and the canoe rental place, into the heart of Utrecht, and in particular right to the Ledig Erf, a cafe/bar run by Eddie, an old friend of Paulus'. Paulus had just gone by Eddie's to take measurements and stuff for some work that needs to be done there. Business is booming at the Ledig Erf -- roughly double what it was last year. Eddie has been wondering what he might do to next -- he doesn't really have a kitchen, and his terrace is already full, so he's been thinking about offering picnic baskets for customers, who could take them to the park area next to the river... I joked with Paulus, we should set up something with Eddie and the Veldkeuken and the Moestuin and the canoe place... cooperate with food and marketing... set up a tour... people stay at our place, have breakfast, get in their canoes with a map and a picnic basket, stop for coffee at the Pannenkoeken huis at Rhijnauwen, then tea at the Veldkeuken, then coffee at the moestuin, then a beer at Ledig Erf, then return their canoes and go home, or come back to us for another night.... I said it as a joke, because I don't really think of the crowd at the Ledig Erf as being the same sort of people who like canoeing and organic food -- but who knows? The sandwiches and foccacia and stuffed pita breads from the Veldkeuken are so delicious, I'm sure Eddie could sell them to his clients, and even people from our eco/organic market segment probably like a beer now and then, and we're all connected by the Kromme Rijn, so why not try?
Whew! Caught up! Now for some pictures!
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