Sunday March 15th:
We went to the Onkruid Beurs. Some background for people from outside Holland: A beurs is a sort of exposition, with lots of different stands set up by difference businesses or services around a particular theme. Paulus likes to go to the Bouw Beurs (for the construction industry) where he can talk to all the different painting supply company representatives about what they have to offer, for example. (and make lots of people giggle at his "Paulus de Kluskabouter" name tag.) The Onkruid Beurs is targeted at a different group....
Onkruid means weed, in Dutch, and Onkruid magazine is well-known fixture in the Netherlands associated with the... um... hippie crowd. The granola types -- you know, with all the nuts and fruits. The crystal ball readers and incense burners. Or as they say in Dutch, the people with geiten wollen sokken. (goat wool socks.) These kinds of people and events sometimes make me nervous. I work with energy and intuition and lots of "crazy stuff" but my background is in the sciences. For me, there isn't a contradiction. But for some people in the nuts & fruits crowd, concrete facts and evidence and scientific method are all "evil." And for some people in the scientific crowd, all intuition and subtle energies and spirituality are "garbage." And I'm stuck in the middle, both at the same time and neither.
But we wanted to go to the Onkruid beurs to look for people who might have advice for us or be interesting in renting rooms from us in our future house. So we said goodbye to our current B&B guests and off we went....
I was pleasantly surprised. Sure, there were a few fortune-teller types who made my "inner scientist" want to say, "garbage! You don't know what you are doing and are just taking advantage of gullible visitors." And a few air-filter salesman types who made my "inner yogi" want to say, "whoa there, I know you've got your sales targets to meet but money isn't everything. " But overall, most people looked radiant and passionate about their work and more interested in making the world a better place than in becoming rich and famous.
Among the crowd, there were several people who stood out. One was Elisa, the part time administrative person at Rio de Bio whom I helped to hire and train a few years ago. I thought, huh, what is Elisa doing here? Then I remembered that she has been busy following a course to become a meditation teacher/leader. She was there to sit at the booth for her school. We talked a while and I thought, wow, here is a perfect person to make a partnership with. She has the perfect sort of activity to run in the upstairs hall, and she could help us a lot with marketing, communication, administration, design -- all the things she has been trained in. And we could use her on a flexible and freelance basis, adjusted around our needs and her needs and her work at Rio de Bio. I asked if she would be interested, and she said yes, certainly. Turns out she loves Bunnik and for many years wanted to move there.
(An aside: the idea of hiring people to work for us gives me the heebie-jeebies... In the Netherlands, if someone is on your payroll with a "vaste contract" -- a permanent employee as opposed to summer help, for example -- besides having to deal with all the payroll taxes and insurance and stuff, you are responsible for their livlihood for years. If the person gets sick or has a burn-out or gets pregnant and wants a leave of absense, they still stay on your pay-roll. Also if the company goes out of business. They only go off the payroll list if they choose to leave themselves or if they do something really terrible (and well documented) and get fired. That is just normal, and in general I think it is great, but the risks are high for small businesses. Of course, you buy extra insurance as an employer to cover your payroll costs in case something happens -- but it is all an administrative nightmare. And Elisa knows this -- one of her first tasks at Rio de Bio, a task that took several months to complete, was arranging to get a former employee who became sick off the official payroll list.)
Anyway, another impressive person at the Onkruid Beurs was Henning, who stood at the booth for Free Alliance. (This group has a two-year course, and also sponsors activities and lectures, around greater conciousness and harmony. I just glanced at their website briefly. www.freealliance.org. They seem to be involved in a very practical way helping families in the Gaza Strip -- one version of their website is in Hebrew, or will be...) We stopped to chat because I recognized someone else at their booth, and we ended up talking to Henning the most, and later meeting his wife. What an interesting and enthusiastic person! He lives in Zeist, used to work for years for the government, and is currently treasurer of their organization. Their group rents out meeting room spaces like we are planning to do, and Henning knows all about the demand, the standard prices, and so forth. He also knows about the "competition" because he frequently needs to be able to refer customers to other spaces if theirs are full. He explained that it is a niche market -- you need to know what is out there, because if you refer a good client who is looking for an intimate setting to a place that is severe and business-like, for example, or vice-versa, they won't be happy with you. I said, wow, this sort of expertise is something we really need. If we manage to buy the Dorpsstraat house, could we pay him for some training sessions? No, absolutely not, he said. He'd much rather work out an exchange for Shiatsu treatments! And in the meantime, he said he would be happy to put something on paper if we need it for our business plan, basically his expert opinion that we can earn roughly such-and-such with our meeting rooms given such-and-such circumstances. Awesome.
Another interesting person was Johan, from an organization called Amadorra (www.amadorra.nl) located in Houten (Bunnik is roughly half way between Utrecht and Houten.) Johan and his wife set up Amadorra and he gives ... wait for it... Shiatsu treatments there! And they have rooms that they rent out to other therapists and there is a range of courses and lessons that people can take -- in yoga, meditation, drumming, Shiatsu, other therapies. In essence, everything we imagine for ourselves, minus the B&B part. Johan is a really tall guy with an easy smile, like Paulus.... he was standing there with a drum in his hand (Paulus loves drums) and they looked at each other, discovered they both do Shiatsu... and it was as if nothing more needed to be said. We all exchanged business cards and said, we'll be in touch!
We also took contact information for several interesting artists, and for a group/magazine called Genoeg! (Enough!) They are all about taking care of the Earth through simpler living and less consumerism. The person at the booth (oh rats, I see that her name is not on her business card, just her photo...) was very nice and I bet we can do something with her in the future. We're going to try to furnish the whole house with second-hand things (except for the technical equipment, for power point presentations and stuff.... that has to be new and working 100%) Maybe her magazine or website will have good tips for us, or be interested in publishing an article about us?
Speaking of publishing, there were also many alternative/spirituality type publishers at the Beurs and I learned from 4 of them that they would be quite willing/happy to look at my manuscript. Even though it is in English and that could make it more difficult to work with. My favorite was Zwerk. www.zwerkuitgevers.nl I like their name, their energy, the fact that they are quite small, and located in Houten. So, once this business with buying a house, moving, renovating, and getting our businesses up and running is complete, I can work on getting published. (ha) I have the feeling that I will have to get inspired by Obama some more, and try to do everything at once. If he can work on the world economy, national healthcare, climate change and green energy, peace in the Middle East, etc., all at once, I can combine moving with getting published.
(did you see in the New York times? The Obamas are digging up part of the White House lawn and putting in an organic vegetable garden!)
Here is an interesting coincidence, not really related to buying our dream house at all: We had to leave the Beurs rather early, because I had an appointment with my friend Anne (in the agenda for months) to meet with a small group of her friends and ...um.... read aloud from our manuscripts. We are all writing or sitting on book manuscripts. Just a coincidence. That also makes me think that I'm entering one of those life phases where everything happens at once.
Next report: our visit with Paulien the too-good-to-be-true B&B real estate expert....
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
update from March 13
Now, where was I?
First, some thank-you's:
to Wendy, who says she has read these blogs and likes them and has.... um, what is the lingo here?... bookmarked them? so that she can follow regularly. I have a "fan"!
To Veronika, for a lovely supportive email with lots of !!!!!!.
To Coco, who wrote with a few tips -- a friend who does solar panels, and another who works with investors interested in new projects. De Weert Marketing... I think I saw them at the last Kamer van Koophandel (chamber of commerce) network event?
To Coen, who wrote suggesting that we try to tap into the market for holistic/spiritual trainings for businesses -- when he was at IBM, they offered a very popular Zen Meditation course in Utrecht. That course was at Zentrum (www.zentrum.nl) and Coen suggested talking to the owner there about how he got started, etc. Great idea!
Now, the update from Friday, March 13.
I started off by driving to a small city called Wijk bij Duurstede, a fairly well-known tourist destination also on the Kromme Rijn river. (the river runs from east to west, passing Wijk bij Duurstede, Werkhoven, Odijk, and Bunnik, then the old Fort Rhijnauwen and the estate at Amelisweerd, before coming into Utrecht next to the soccer stadium.) I was planning to visit Terecht Anders, the organisation that supports B&B's and organic farms and artists in the area. Their office was supposedly located in the tourist information center, but it turned out they had recently moved, without putting their new address on their website. That was a bit disappointing, but I decided maybe they are a bit of a shoe-string operation (like us) and therefore quite likely to be interesting people, even if a bit disorganized. I noticed that their website has no English on it -- which could also be seen in two ways: 1) they aren't very professional or 2) they are new and growing and there is an obvious way for me to participate, by helping them with translations.
Since I was at the tourist information center anyway, I decided to look around and talk with the receptionist there. She says they keep a list of local B&B's (it costs 35 Euro to get on the list) and they give that information out to anyone asking for it. (It doesn't appear to get you on their website, however.) I discovered two printed B&B guides for the Netherlands, one from "Bed and Breakfast Netherlands" where we are currently registered, and one from the ANWB (roughly equivalent to AAA in America -- they sell traveler's insurance, maps, hotel guides, etc.) The selection in Utrecht province was decent, but not overpowering, I thought. The average price for a room seemed to be around 70 Euro, compared to around 50 Euro for places outside the "Randstad" (the central, more urban part of Holland, including Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht and the Hague). But when 20,000 people come to Utrecht for an event in the Jaarbeurs (exposition center), and there's maybe 40 B&B's in and around Utrecht with maybe an average of 3 rooms each -- that's a lot of people who will have to stay at a hotel even if they would rather stay at a B&B. How can a B&B not be in high demand?
I had been on another website that morning, www.erfgoedlogies.nl. They specialize in lodgings and "arrangements" at houses/estates of cultural and historical significance, usually Monumental buildings. I called to ask them to mail me their registration information and to ask for some advice. A friendly woman in Drente told me that it is difficult to start a B&B. In the first 4 years, if you reach 35% occupancy, you are doing very well. But she did say it could be different if you also attract business clients. She herself is very much outside of the Randstad and only hosts tourists, and so business is very slow in the winter months. That was rather discouraging, which is why I was eager to talk to Terecht Anders. Oh well, something to look forward to for another day.
At the information center I also bought a bicycle route map for Bunnik and the surrounding area. That was very useful, because it showed the small back roads running from Bunnik directly to the University and the UMC (Universitair Medisch Centrum), which I explored at the end of the day.
I drove back to Bunnik to my next destination, the Monument Stichting, located in a building right next to our future house. (a stichting is a non-profit agency) In fact, the current owners explained to us that they had made a "deal" with the Monument Stichting, that the stichting employees could park up to 6 cars behind their building on property that technically belongs to Dorpsstraat 1. The owners, with their antique showroom, found this an improvement over having the cars on the street, blocking the view of their business.
The door to the Monument Stichting was locked, which I thought was a bit odd, but I rang the doorbell. A man came to open the door and seemed rather irritated. "What do you want?" "Well, I was just hoping to get some more information about Rijksmonuments... what one needs to do to maintain them and what the rules are and so forth...." That wasn't a good answer. I continued faintly, "you see... we are trying to buy the house next door, and I'm not from here, I need more information, maybe I'm at the wrong place...." That was a good answer. The man changed completely. "Oh, you might be our new neighbor! Fantastic! I'm Tom, please come in..." It turns out that I was at the wrong place, to get information on how to maintain Monumental buildings and so forth -- all that stuff is now handled at another office. But Tom said we were more than welcome to make a special appointment with him and he could advise us on everything. He was very busy at that moment but gave me his card. Whew. Turned out very well in the end.... and yes, he did ask if we had heard about the parking agreement :-)
My next stop was back at "Bio Goed", the organic food store, where I found Michael restocking the shelves. Could he point out the Mr. or Mrs. Schoenmaker, of the family somewhere across the street, the ones who used to have a B&B in Bunnik? He laughed -- it wasn't Mrs. Schoenmaker I needed to see, it was THE schoenmaker. Shoemaker. I had confused last name with title. But at least I'm not the only one: Paulus calls his business "Paulus de Kluskabouter" (Paulus the handy-gnome) and has occasionally gotten mail addressed to Mr. de Kluskabouter.
Michael said, shall I quickly introduce you? I said, sure, if that's possible, but what about your store....? He was already out the door. There were no customers inside at the time, and apparently Bunnik is quite sleepy, as he said! We walked briskly to the corner store (shoemaker, keymaker, dry cleaner, clothing repair and probably more...) and I was introduced to Geerke. She used to run "De Binnenplaats" B&B, with 2 rooms and 5 beds. I asked how it was. Very busy, she said. I said, you mean, like 60% occupancy? She said, no, full. Full. She was listed on the www.bedandbreakfast.com, the same site we use, and she always had customers, even after raising her rates to 75 Euro. Tourists from all over Europe, business people connected to the bedrijfsterrein (business zone) near the highway, people training at the nursing school. Companies would book both rooms for several weeks or even months. There are no other lodgings in the area, except for the Mercure hotel on the highway. It was madness. She had her shop to run, plus another business as professional photographer, plus 4 children, and it was too much.
I asked Geerke what she thought of our chances at Dorpsstraat 1, with 5 rooms and 10 beds. She said, you'll always be full, and you can ask more because of the house and the location. It won't be much more work than my 2 rooms with 5 beds, because there isn't much difference between making breakfast for 5 and making breakfast for 10. If you like having guests, and if you have some private areas in the home just for you, it will be fine. As long as you get approval from the gemeente. All the technical and logistical information on how to run a B&B is on the B&B website.
So. Later that night, I revised my spreadsheets to show a "realistic estimate for occupancy" rate of 80%, up from my previous estimates of 35% to 60%. 5 rooms, at 50-120 Euro per room, at 80% occupancy, comes to a projected income of 11250 Euro per month. That feels nicely reassuring. A mortgage/loan payment would be, at the worst, around 9000 Euro per month, and hopefully closer to 5000 Euro. And we haven't added income from room rental, extra meals and incidentals, the practice, or the handiman business. *I* feel 80% confident now that we can do it, which of course is a whole different thing from convincing a bank that we can do it.
On the way home, I followed some of the smaller roads in and around Bunnik. I drove quite unexpectedly right by the Hofstede van Beesde -- another one of Bunnik's 6 wedding locations. It looked like a country club -- wow -- quite in keeping with their fancy website www.hofstede-debeesde.nl and the super-glossy info packet they sent me. (Of course, I didn't ask for an information packet, I asked if I could make an appointment to tour their facility and talk to someone about possibilities for working cooperatively). Clearly they are in another league -- but still, it is walking distance from the Dorpsstraat, so people who are marrying or celebrating there would have the possibility to stay the night with us. Not a bad thing.
I drove past the University, and happened to see the Ronald MacDonald house, so I know where to go when it's time to ask them about getting on their "back-up" list.
I ended up at the canoe and bicycle rental place near the stadium. They are closed at the moment (it seems they are open from April to October), and the information in their display case was very faded and difficult to read. But it appears that they take their canoes and their customers to several different drop-off points on the Kromme Rijn, several times a day. The people can then paddle leisurely downstream back to the stadium. I squinted: the drop-off points seemed to be Wijk bij Duurstede, Odijk, Bunnik, and Rhijnauwen... and there were little photos pasted on a map of the river... and the photo next to the Bunnik drop-off point was our house!!! Incredible! It seems that the field of grass across the river from the house is where the canoes go in the water.
I revised our local marketing plan, in my head. Top of the list: not advertisements in the paper or posters around town. Sitting on the terrace eating lunch and waving. Tasteful sign in the yard:
Huis aan de Brug
Bed & Breakfast & Ontmoetingscentrum
Biologisch, ecologisch, rustig en gastvrij.
(translation: House by the Bridge, B&B and meeting center, organic, ecologic, peaceful/restful, friendly/hospitable). Easier than falling off a log.
But the bank thing and the "ontmoetingscentrum" part remained rather uncertain.
That evening, I found the registration information from Erf Goed Logies in my inbox. They do seem to be a good organisation, doing a lot to support their members and, indirectly, Monumental buildings and Dutch heritage. But I learned that membership for a B&B with 5 bedrooms would be 750 Euro per year! That would be worth it, of course, if our occupancy rate was 20% and we wanted to double it. But if we are already going to reach 80% easily? I suppose it could also be useful if we were very popular and wanted to raise our rates and cater to a more affluent crowd. But... but... we aren't really the affluent-crowd types. Not that there's anything wrong with having a lot of money, it's just that it's so fun to socialize with a wide cross-section of people. But perhaps the most important reason to still consider joining Erf Goed Logies is their emphasis on "arrangements." It would be nice if we regularly had visitors who, for example, wanted to celebrate their anniversary with a 3-day vacation including hiking, canoeing, picnic basket with a bottle of champagne, Shiatsu treatments, and sitting in the hot tub under the stars. If these people don't find us through the normal channels, we could always consider joining Erf Goed Logies later....
I checked back at the forum for members of www.bedandbreakfast.nl, where I had left a question about the economy, occupancy rates, and getting mortgages. 7 people have answered my survey: 1 said business was much worse, 2 said it was somewhat worse, 2 said it was somewhat better, and 2 said it was much better (compared to last year.) And one person had posted a written response: She has her own B&B, and she is a real estate agent specializing in unusual buildings, including B&B's. She used to work as a horeca real estate agent. She knows how to do exploitatiebegrotingen (how to translate... budgets for exploitation... basically how much money you can expect to make from using a building) plus the other stuff you need to arrange financially for a B&B, including a business plan. It sounded too good to be true, so I was immediately suspicious. Her last line, though, stated that a first visit was free. No 178 Euro surprises. I took a deep breath and called to make an appointment. Results will be posted in a few days, I hope!
But first, I need to write another post about Sunday.
First, some thank-you's:
to Wendy, who says she has read these blogs and likes them and has.... um, what is the lingo here?... bookmarked them? so that she can follow regularly. I have a "fan"!
To Veronika, for a lovely supportive email with lots of !!!!!!.
To Coco, who wrote with a few tips -- a friend who does solar panels, and another who works with investors interested in new projects. De Weert Marketing... I think I saw them at the last Kamer van Koophandel (chamber of commerce) network event?
To Coen, who wrote suggesting that we try to tap into the market for holistic/spiritual trainings for businesses -- when he was at IBM, they offered a very popular Zen Meditation course in Utrecht. That course was at Zentrum (www.zentrum.nl) and Coen suggested talking to the owner there about how he got started, etc. Great idea!
Now, the update from Friday, March 13.
I started off by driving to a small city called Wijk bij Duurstede, a fairly well-known tourist destination also on the Kromme Rijn river. (the river runs from east to west, passing Wijk bij Duurstede, Werkhoven, Odijk, and Bunnik, then the old Fort Rhijnauwen and the estate at Amelisweerd, before coming into Utrecht next to the soccer stadium.) I was planning to visit Terecht Anders, the organisation that supports B&B's and organic farms and artists in the area. Their office was supposedly located in the tourist information center, but it turned out they had recently moved, without putting their new address on their website. That was a bit disappointing, but I decided maybe they are a bit of a shoe-string operation (like us) and therefore quite likely to be interesting people, even if a bit disorganized. I noticed that their website has no English on it -- which could also be seen in two ways: 1) they aren't very professional or 2) they are new and growing and there is an obvious way for me to participate, by helping them with translations.
Since I was at the tourist information center anyway, I decided to look around and talk with the receptionist there. She says they keep a list of local B&B's (it costs 35 Euro to get on the list) and they give that information out to anyone asking for it. (It doesn't appear to get you on their website, however.) I discovered two printed B&B guides for the Netherlands, one from "Bed and Breakfast Netherlands" where we are currently registered, and one from the ANWB (roughly equivalent to AAA in America -- they sell traveler's insurance, maps, hotel guides, etc.) The selection in Utrecht province was decent, but not overpowering, I thought. The average price for a room seemed to be around 70 Euro, compared to around 50 Euro for places outside the "Randstad" (the central, more urban part of Holland, including Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht and the Hague). But when 20,000 people come to Utrecht for an event in the Jaarbeurs (exposition center), and there's maybe 40 B&B's in and around Utrecht with maybe an average of 3 rooms each -- that's a lot of people who will have to stay at a hotel even if they would rather stay at a B&B. How can a B&B not be in high demand?
I had been on another website that morning, www.erfgoedlogies.nl. They specialize in lodgings and "arrangements" at houses/estates of cultural and historical significance, usually Monumental buildings. I called to ask them to mail me their registration information and to ask for some advice. A friendly woman in Drente told me that it is difficult to start a B&B. In the first 4 years, if you reach 35% occupancy, you are doing very well. But she did say it could be different if you also attract business clients. She herself is very much outside of the Randstad and only hosts tourists, and so business is very slow in the winter months. That was rather discouraging, which is why I was eager to talk to Terecht Anders. Oh well, something to look forward to for another day.
At the information center I also bought a bicycle route map for Bunnik and the surrounding area. That was very useful, because it showed the small back roads running from Bunnik directly to the University and the UMC (Universitair Medisch Centrum), which I explored at the end of the day.
I drove back to Bunnik to my next destination, the Monument Stichting, located in a building right next to our future house. (a stichting is a non-profit agency) In fact, the current owners explained to us that they had made a "deal" with the Monument Stichting, that the stichting employees could park up to 6 cars behind their building on property that technically belongs to Dorpsstraat 1. The owners, with their antique showroom, found this an improvement over having the cars on the street, blocking the view of their business.
The door to the Monument Stichting was locked, which I thought was a bit odd, but I rang the doorbell. A man came to open the door and seemed rather irritated. "What do you want?" "Well, I was just hoping to get some more information about Rijksmonuments... what one needs to do to maintain them and what the rules are and so forth...." That wasn't a good answer. I continued faintly, "you see... we are trying to buy the house next door, and I'm not from here, I need more information, maybe I'm at the wrong place...." That was a good answer. The man changed completely. "Oh, you might be our new neighbor! Fantastic! I'm Tom, please come in..." It turns out that I was at the wrong place, to get information on how to maintain Monumental buildings and so forth -- all that stuff is now handled at another office. But Tom said we were more than welcome to make a special appointment with him and he could advise us on everything. He was very busy at that moment but gave me his card. Whew. Turned out very well in the end.... and yes, he did ask if we had heard about the parking agreement :-)
My next stop was back at "Bio Goed", the organic food store, where I found Michael restocking the shelves. Could he point out the Mr. or Mrs. Schoenmaker, of the family somewhere across the street, the ones who used to have a B&B in Bunnik? He laughed -- it wasn't Mrs. Schoenmaker I needed to see, it was THE schoenmaker. Shoemaker. I had confused last name with title. But at least I'm not the only one: Paulus calls his business "Paulus de Kluskabouter" (Paulus the handy-gnome) and has occasionally gotten mail addressed to Mr. de Kluskabouter.
Michael said, shall I quickly introduce you? I said, sure, if that's possible, but what about your store....? He was already out the door. There were no customers inside at the time, and apparently Bunnik is quite sleepy, as he said! We walked briskly to the corner store (shoemaker, keymaker, dry cleaner, clothing repair and probably more...) and I was introduced to Geerke. She used to run "De Binnenplaats" B&B, with 2 rooms and 5 beds. I asked how it was. Very busy, she said. I said, you mean, like 60% occupancy? She said, no, full. Full. She was listed on the www.bedandbreakfast.com, the same site we use, and she always had customers, even after raising her rates to 75 Euro. Tourists from all over Europe, business people connected to the bedrijfsterrein (business zone) near the highway, people training at the nursing school. Companies would book both rooms for several weeks or even months. There are no other lodgings in the area, except for the Mercure hotel on the highway. It was madness. She had her shop to run, plus another business as professional photographer, plus 4 children, and it was too much.
I asked Geerke what she thought of our chances at Dorpsstraat 1, with 5 rooms and 10 beds. She said, you'll always be full, and you can ask more because of the house and the location. It won't be much more work than my 2 rooms with 5 beds, because there isn't much difference between making breakfast for 5 and making breakfast for 10. If you like having guests, and if you have some private areas in the home just for you, it will be fine. As long as you get approval from the gemeente. All the technical and logistical information on how to run a B&B is on the B&B website.
So. Later that night, I revised my spreadsheets to show a "realistic estimate for occupancy" rate of 80%, up from my previous estimates of 35% to 60%. 5 rooms, at 50-120 Euro per room, at 80% occupancy, comes to a projected income of 11250 Euro per month. That feels nicely reassuring. A mortgage/loan payment would be, at the worst, around 9000 Euro per month, and hopefully closer to 5000 Euro. And we haven't added income from room rental, extra meals and incidentals, the practice, or the handiman business. *I* feel 80% confident now that we can do it, which of course is a whole different thing from convincing a bank that we can do it.
On the way home, I followed some of the smaller roads in and around Bunnik. I drove quite unexpectedly right by the Hofstede van Beesde -- another one of Bunnik's 6 wedding locations. It looked like a country club -- wow -- quite in keeping with their fancy website www.hofstede-debeesde.nl and the super-glossy info packet they sent me. (Of course, I didn't ask for an information packet, I asked if I could make an appointment to tour their facility and talk to someone about possibilities for working cooperatively). Clearly they are in another league -- but still, it is walking distance from the Dorpsstraat, so people who are marrying or celebrating there would have the possibility to stay the night with us. Not a bad thing.
I drove past the University, and happened to see the Ronald MacDonald house, so I know where to go when it's time to ask them about getting on their "back-up" list.
I ended up at the canoe and bicycle rental place near the stadium. They are closed at the moment (it seems they are open from April to October), and the information in their display case was very faded and difficult to read. But it appears that they take their canoes and their customers to several different drop-off points on the Kromme Rijn, several times a day. The people can then paddle leisurely downstream back to the stadium. I squinted: the drop-off points seemed to be Wijk bij Duurstede, Odijk, Bunnik, and Rhijnauwen... and there were little photos pasted on a map of the river... and the photo next to the Bunnik drop-off point was our house!!! Incredible! It seems that the field of grass across the river from the house is where the canoes go in the water.
I revised our local marketing plan, in my head. Top of the list: not advertisements in the paper or posters around town. Sitting on the terrace eating lunch and waving. Tasteful sign in the yard:
Huis aan de Brug
Bed & Breakfast & Ontmoetingscentrum
Biologisch, ecologisch, rustig en gastvrij.
(translation: House by the Bridge, B&B and meeting center, organic, ecologic, peaceful/restful, friendly/hospitable). Easier than falling off a log.
But the bank thing and the "ontmoetingscentrum" part remained rather uncertain.
That evening, I found the registration information from Erf Goed Logies in my inbox. They do seem to be a good organisation, doing a lot to support their members and, indirectly, Monumental buildings and Dutch heritage. But I learned that membership for a B&B with 5 bedrooms would be 750 Euro per year! That would be worth it, of course, if our occupancy rate was 20% and we wanted to double it. But if we are already going to reach 80% easily? I suppose it could also be useful if we were very popular and wanted to raise our rates and cater to a more affluent crowd. But... but... we aren't really the affluent-crowd types. Not that there's anything wrong with having a lot of money, it's just that it's so fun to socialize with a wide cross-section of people. But perhaps the most important reason to still consider joining Erf Goed Logies is their emphasis on "arrangements." It would be nice if we regularly had visitors who, for example, wanted to celebrate their anniversary with a 3-day vacation including hiking, canoeing, picnic basket with a bottle of champagne, Shiatsu treatments, and sitting in the hot tub under the stars. If these people don't find us through the normal channels, we could always consider joining Erf Goed Logies later....
I checked back at the forum for members of www.bedandbreakfast.nl, where I had left a question about the economy, occupancy rates, and getting mortgages. 7 people have answered my survey: 1 said business was much worse, 2 said it was somewhat worse, 2 said it was somewhat better, and 2 said it was much better (compared to last year.) And one person had posted a written response: She has her own B&B, and she is a real estate agent specializing in unusual buildings, including B&B's. She used to work as a horeca real estate agent. She knows how to do exploitatiebegrotingen (how to translate... budgets for exploitation... basically how much money you can expect to make from using a building) plus the other stuff you need to arrange financially for a B&B, including a business plan. It sounded too good to be true, so I was immediately suspicious. Her last line, though, stated that a first visit was free. No 178 Euro surprises. I took a deep breath and called to make an appointment. Results will be posted in a few days, I hope!
But first, I need to write another post about Sunday.
update on "our" house in Bunnik: March 5-12
I've been very busy the last few days, doing research, still staying optimistic that we'll find a way to buy the house at Dorpsstraat 1....
First, some "thank-you" messages:
to Renee, for the great tip that we talk to the Wilhelmina Kinderziekenhuis (children's hospital) and let them know that we could host families if the Ronald MacDonald house is full. "Our" house is just a few minutes drive away from the hospital.
Norm: how interesting that you know the house from your childhood! Yes, we'd love to have copies of photos and info from the book you mentioned about Bunnik.
Manfred: great that you are willing to "spread the word." Yes, I think the networks from our Utrecht Ondernemers Academy will help us a lot.
Leslie: thanks for the encouragement and your own update and hope we can get together this week!
Wendy: you asked how the owners reacted when we asked if it would be possible to rent for a year or two...
I'll begin there. On Thursday, March 5, we had our second tour of the house and spoke with both owners. They said that they would naturally prefer to sell the house than rent it, and that they thought it would be a pity for us to pay a high rent to them without being able to call the place our own -- but, that they didn't really need all the money at once and they would be willing to consider alternatives. For example, splitting the house into two parts, on paper, and selling us half, if we could get a mortgage for that much, and renting us the other half for a few years. In any case, it seems that they like us and our plans, and we like them and their house, and we are all willing to be flexible. Just as long as they get their money eventually and we don't get in over our heads -- we all agreed that we need to be practical and give it up if it starts to look too difficult.
On Friday, March 6, we went to visit a woman who has a similar set-up in Baarn: an old house that she remodeled and uses for her practice and rents out to others. She said she had some ideas and could probably help us. (She didn't say that she would be sending us a bill for 178 Euro's afterwards. Her website did mention somewhere in very fine print that she gives consultations to businesses for 75 Euro -- I guess I should have asked explicitly, is that per hour or per session, inclusive or exclusive tax?) So, that left a bitter taste. Most of her advice was not something I would have paid for (like what colors to paint the walls and stuff -- that part we can handle.) I wanted to know about financing and reasonable expectations for how in demand our rental rooms would be. But anyway. We did get a little information on those points: meeting rooms are very much in demand (she says -- no specific numbers) and she has a feeling that we could get a mortgage if we could put a lot of money in a sort of deposit account -- what I described in my first letter to everyone. My intuition is that this one little piece of information was what we needed to get from her. I suppose, if it works out, those 5 minutes were worth the 178 Euro.
On Sunday, March 8, we went to an art exposition at "Concordia" in Utrecht and talked to quite a few artists. I collected business cards and contact info for the ones we liked the most, so we can invite them later to display artwork at our place, or give classes, or whatever. I like the idea of having art (and music) be part of our project.
On Monday, March 9, I met with our "loopbaan" group and shared my enthusiasm over all the developments. The others reminded me how much I've changed since I started going to those meetings. It was hard to remember. But yes, it is true: I'm focused much more these days on the statement sitting on a postcard in front of my computer screen: "Don't be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams." It is exciting and fun to research all the possibilities. Even as we open the mail to find a parking ticket, which we won't be able to pay until Paulus collects the money owed to him from his last handiman job. Crazy, thinking about buying a 2 million Euro house when you don't have 50 Euro in the bank.
I wrote the letter that is the second entry in this blog.
On Wednesday, March 10, I finally had a whole day free to go off researching. I started by going to Samaya Conference Center in Werkhoven. (www.samaya.nl) They have (more or less) 6 conference rooms and 40-some bedrooms in an old cloister, which they rent out for conferences, and they also offer organic meals. One of Bunnik's 6 approved wedding locations is in their chapel. The receptionist said she was quite busy and all the conference rooms were occupied but if I wanted to guide myself around the hallways, I was welcome. So I did. I knew already from their website that it was a pretty cool place -- but wow, in person it was 10 times more special! Beautiful flower arrangements, artwork and photographs and garden spaces... just the whole energy of the place. I was literally in tears. I stopped by the reception again on my way out and learned that (a) they have absolutely no shortage of people who want to use their space and have seen no effect from the current economic situation, and (b) rather often they have more seminar participants than can be accommodated in their guestrooms, and for that situation there is a list of back-up hotels in the area, and they would be very happy to put our B&B on that list. Great!
Then I drove into Bunnik and went to visit the organic food store, Bio Goed, located on the same street as "our" house. The man by the checkout, Michael, turned out to be the owner. His first question, when I told him I wanted to start a bio B&B, was, did I realize I was in Bunnik? He walked me to the door and pointed out all the empty store fronts up and down the street. The only reason he is still in business, he said, was because he has no employees. He runs the whole business himself, the way he likes it, because that's the way he likes it. But if I really wanted to do it, he would be very happy to have us there. In fact, he'd be happy to have a Lidl across the street, he said, laughing. Anything to liven up the place. (Lidl is a chain of discount stores, where you can buy, for example, 12 liters at a time of off-brand cola. The polar opposite of one-man owned and run organic food store, dus.) Bunnik is apparently rather sleepy. Many residents work at the University and shop in Utrecht. He told in a very animated way how they have a vrijmarkt (open air flea market -- a Dutch tradition) on Queen's Day -- it starts around 10 a.m. and is all over by noon! Queen's Day in Utrecht, of course, starts the night before, goes on all night with music and partying and games and TONS of people. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Of course, as we're talking, customers are coming in and out. He knew most of them by name and greeted them with, "hey so-and-so, this woman wants to open a bed and breakfast in Bunnik, what do you think of that?" I think I was there for an hour and a half.
I learned a bunch of useful things: He'd be happy to order for/with us, and not at the "advertised price." There's a short cut over to the warehouse for one of the local important suppliers; we could take turns with him driving over to pick up our orders. We could leave fliers, etc., in his shop. He doesn't have time to provide recipes and samples for his customers and would be happy if we brought soup or snacks down to his shop. He'd be very happy to organize events in cooperation with us. If we want to rent bicycles, there's no one else doing it in Bunnik and we could get a nice supply of good cheap bikes at the police auction. He recommends getting stagaires (apprentice-type people) from the Vrij School (Waldorf school) in Zeist to help out when it is busy. And he knows a family across the street who used to run a B&B and we could talk to them about how it went -- unfortunately they had already closed their shop. His idea was that their B&B didn't go so well, but a client in the store was pretty sure that it was successful and that they stopped for other reasons.
My last stop that day was at the jeugdherberg (youth hostel) in Rhijnauwen. They have rooms to rent (family style with bunk beds and also dormitory style, I think. Plus several conference-type rooms.) I talked to the two guys at the reception. Have they noticed an effect from the economy? Would they recommend opening a B&B in the area? Would they be interested in cooperative efforts? Sadly, it seems that things are not going so well for them. The number of reservations there is much less than it was last year (although last year it was already going down, so I don't know if the problem has to do with the economy entirely.) They said that many hotels are having a hard time and it is quite easy to dig around a little and come up with a big discount at a 5-star hotel, and pay about the same as what they charge at the hostel. They would definitely not recommend investing in a B&B right now. There had been a B&B in Bunnik but it didn't make it. So. That was all a bit sobering. But as Paulus said that night, the youth hostel crowd is absolutely not the same as the B&B crowd.
On Thursday, March 12, I went to the gemeentehuis (city hall) for Bunnik, which is located in the nearby town of Odijk. I found a wall there full of interesting fliers (local choirs performances, agendas for small courses like drawing and yoga, etc.) and spoke with one of their workers. I learned that with a B&B of 5 rooms, we'll need to ask for a gebruiksvergunning (permission for particular use of something). Someone from the city hall would then come by and check for things like emerency exits, etc. But in general, she reacted positively to our idea. I pointed out that I thought a B&B would be good for Bunnik, and she agreed. I also asked about a horecavergunning. It turns out that a horecavergunning is permission for serving alcohol, and only for serving alcohol (although the name suggests that it is about horeca in general: hotels, restaurants and catering.) If we don't serve alcohol (for a payment), we only need a gebruiksvergunning. We can still serve alcohol for "closed" parties and receptions, or for example as part of a chamber music concert during an intermission, as long as the cost is part of the entrance price. I don't think this is how they do it in America, but fine... I think I understand what the rules are now, even if they don't make sense to me.
At the city hall, I also asked about the wedding situation. We had heard from the owners that the city wanted to continue using one of the rooms for wedding ceremonies. I learned that yes, the upstairs hall had been used for weddings before and we could probably continue that. If it is something we enjoy doing and we put some effort into it, we might end up hosting more than the current owners have. But, Bunnik is not like Utrecht and there isn't a huge waiting list for getting married. They do about 50 weddings a year in Bunnik, and that is including Fort Vechten, which is quite a popular location. My conclusion: we aren't going to be doing weddings every month -- but with a good website and outreach, we might be able to appeal to the Utrecht market a bit. If you are free to go to another gemeente to get married, and Utrecht has long waiting lists and Bunnik is very close by.... it doesn't take a rocket scientist...
At the end of our talk, the woman told me about a new organisation in the area that might be interesting to me. She found a full-page ad in the local paper (and here is the website: www.streekhuiskrommerijn.nl) The ad was to promote their opening ceremony on April 4th, but when I read it, I thought, I need to drive right over to their offices now! So I did. They were very friendly and helpful. Apparently, Streek Huis Kromme Rijn is an organization (with a large budget from the national government) to care for the whole Kromme Rijn region -- focusing on the environment, agriculture, history, tourism, and quality of life. Of course, they don't have money to give to an individual B&B, but it is good to know that they are doing things that are likely to make our B&B more successful, like adding more bicycle paths and promoting organic farming. I think we could arrange some sort of open door event, or a canoe or bicycle tour, featuring eco-friendly companies and farms, etc., and apply for a grant to cover our expenses. The people there also suggested that I contact a group called Terecht Anders (www.terechtanders.nl), that works specifically with B&B's, tourist-oriented businesses, farms, producers of organic products, and artists in the area.
My last stop on Thursday was at Amelisweerd, where people I know through Rio de Bio have a tea house (called the bezoekerscentrum -- it is coupled on their kitchen, which is called the Veldkeuken.) I spoke with Juliette there, who was also very helpful and friendly. At their tea house, they haven't seen any negative effects from the economic situation. They have a conference room upstairs that they rent out for 50 Euros for a "dagdeel" (part of a day, usually 4 hours) and it is no problem finding people who want to use it. Frequently those people then eat lunch in the tea house. They have a loyal following, people who are very disappointed when they hear that the room is taken. If Juliette tries to refer them to the youth hostel, they aren't very happy ("it's just not the right atmosphere" -- I think Paulus was right...) Juliette said they would be very happy to work with us, refer their clients to us for the B&B and/or our meeting rooms, and do catering for us (their food is all organic and really delicious -- we'd be crazy to try to make the same products ourselves.)
I really like the way they have set up the tea house, with rough wooden benches and tables, displays of local products and books, flowers, nature drawings on the walls. Like Samaya, it feels friendly and peaceful. And it is also right on the Kromme Rijn, so I'm sure we could cooperate on hiking, biking and canoeing events.
That was Thursday... I still have to report on Friday, but it is already my bedtime.... until tomorrow!
First, some "thank-you" messages:
to Renee, for the great tip that we talk to the Wilhelmina Kinderziekenhuis (children's hospital) and let them know that we could host families if the Ronald MacDonald house is full. "Our" house is just a few minutes drive away from the hospital.
Norm: how interesting that you know the house from your childhood! Yes, we'd love to have copies of photos and info from the book you mentioned about Bunnik.
Manfred: great that you are willing to "spread the word." Yes, I think the networks from our Utrecht Ondernemers Academy will help us a lot.
Leslie: thanks for the encouragement and your own update and hope we can get together this week!
Wendy: you asked how the owners reacted when we asked if it would be possible to rent for a year or two...
I'll begin there. On Thursday, March 5, we had our second tour of the house and spoke with both owners. They said that they would naturally prefer to sell the house than rent it, and that they thought it would be a pity for us to pay a high rent to them without being able to call the place our own -- but, that they didn't really need all the money at once and they would be willing to consider alternatives. For example, splitting the house into two parts, on paper, and selling us half, if we could get a mortgage for that much, and renting us the other half for a few years. In any case, it seems that they like us and our plans, and we like them and their house, and we are all willing to be flexible. Just as long as they get their money eventually and we don't get in over our heads -- we all agreed that we need to be practical and give it up if it starts to look too difficult.
On Friday, March 6, we went to visit a woman who has a similar set-up in Baarn: an old house that she remodeled and uses for her practice and rents out to others. She said she had some ideas and could probably help us. (She didn't say that she would be sending us a bill for 178 Euro's afterwards. Her website did mention somewhere in very fine print that she gives consultations to businesses for 75 Euro -- I guess I should have asked explicitly, is that per hour or per session, inclusive or exclusive tax?) So, that left a bitter taste. Most of her advice was not something I would have paid for (like what colors to paint the walls and stuff -- that part we can handle.) I wanted to know about financing and reasonable expectations for how in demand our rental rooms would be. But anyway. We did get a little information on those points: meeting rooms are very much in demand (she says -- no specific numbers) and she has a feeling that we could get a mortgage if we could put a lot of money in a sort of deposit account -- what I described in my first letter to everyone. My intuition is that this one little piece of information was what we needed to get from her. I suppose, if it works out, those 5 minutes were worth the 178 Euro.
On Sunday, March 8, we went to an art exposition at "Concordia" in Utrecht and talked to quite a few artists. I collected business cards and contact info for the ones we liked the most, so we can invite them later to display artwork at our place, or give classes, or whatever. I like the idea of having art (and music) be part of our project.
On Monday, March 9, I met with our "loopbaan" group and shared my enthusiasm over all the developments. The others reminded me how much I've changed since I started going to those meetings. It was hard to remember. But yes, it is true: I'm focused much more these days on the statement sitting on a postcard in front of my computer screen: "Don't be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams." It is exciting and fun to research all the possibilities. Even as we open the mail to find a parking ticket, which we won't be able to pay until Paulus collects the money owed to him from his last handiman job. Crazy, thinking about buying a 2 million Euro house when you don't have 50 Euro in the bank.
I wrote the letter that is the second entry in this blog.
On Wednesday, March 10, I finally had a whole day free to go off researching. I started by going to Samaya Conference Center in Werkhoven. (www.samaya.nl) They have (more or less) 6 conference rooms and 40-some bedrooms in an old cloister, which they rent out for conferences, and they also offer organic meals. One of Bunnik's 6 approved wedding locations is in their chapel. The receptionist said she was quite busy and all the conference rooms were occupied but if I wanted to guide myself around the hallways, I was welcome. So I did. I knew already from their website that it was a pretty cool place -- but wow, in person it was 10 times more special! Beautiful flower arrangements, artwork and photographs and garden spaces... just the whole energy of the place. I was literally in tears. I stopped by the reception again on my way out and learned that (a) they have absolutely no shortage of people who want to use their space and have seen no effect from the current economic situation, and (b) rather often they have more seminar participants than can be accommodated in their guestrooms, and for that situation there is a list of back-up hotels in the area, and they would be very happy to put our B&B on that list. Great!
Then I drove into Bunnik and went to visit the organic food store, Bio Goed, located on the same street as "our" house. The man by the checkout, Michael, turned out to be the owner. His first question, when I told him I wanted to start a bio B&B, was, did I realize I was in Bunnik? He walked me to the door and pointed out all the empty store fronts up and down the street. The only reason he is still in business, he said, was because he has no employees. He runs the whole business himself, the way he likes it, because that's the way he likes it. But if I really wanted to do it, he would be very happy to have us there. In fact, he'd be happy to have a Lidl across the street, he said, laughing. Anything to liven up the place. (Lidl is a chain of discount stores, where you can buy, for example, 12 liters at a time of off-brand cola. The polar opposite of one-man owned and run organic food store, dus.) Bunnik is apparently rather sleepy. Many residents work at the University and shop in Utrecht. He told in a very animated way how they have a vrijmarkt (open air flea market -- a Dutch tradition) on Queen's Day -- it starts around 10 a.m. and is all over by noon! Queen's Day in Utrecht, of course, starts the night before, goes on all night with music and partying and games and TONS of people. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Of course, as we're talking, customers are coming in and out. He knew most of them by name and greeted them with, "hey so-and-so
I learned a bunch of useful things: He'd be happy to order for/with us, and not at the "advertised price." There's a short cut over to the warehouse for one of the local important suppliers; we could take turns with him driving over to pick up our orders. We could leave fliers, etc., in his shop. He doesn't have time to provide recipes and samples for his customers and would be happy if we brought soup or snacks down to his shop. He'd be very happy to organize events in cooperation with us. If we want to rent bicycles, there's no one else doing it in Bunnik and we could get a nice supply of good cheap bikes at the police auction. He recommends getting stagaires (apprentice-type people) from the Vrij School (Waldorf school) in Zeist to help out when it is busy. And he knows a family across the street who used to run a B&B and we could talk to them about how it went -- unfortunately they had already closed their shop. His idea was that their B&B didn't go so well, but a client in the store was pretty sure that it was successful and that they stopped for other reasons.
My last stop that day was at the jeugdherberg (youth hostel) in Rhijnauwen. They have rooms to rent (family style with bunk beds and also dormitory style, I think. Plus several conference-type rooms.) I talked to the two guys at the reception. Have they noticed an effect from the economy? Would they recommend opening a B&B in the area? Would they be interested in cooperative efforts? Sadly, it seems that things are not going so well for them. The number of reservations there is much less than it was last year (although last year it was already going down, so I don't know if the problem has to do with the economy entirely.) They said that many hotels are having a hard time and it is quite easy to dig around a little and come up with a big discount at a 5-star hotel, and pay about the same as what they charge at the hostel. They would definitely not recommend investing in a B&B right now. There had been a B&B in Bunnik but it didn't make it. So. That was all a bit sobering. But as Paulus said that night, the youth hostel crowd is absolutely not the same as the B&B crowd.
On Thursday, March 12, I went to the gemeentehuis (city hall) for Bunnik, which is located in the nearby town of Odijk. I found a wall there full of interesting fliers (local choirs performances, agendas for small courses like drawing and yoga, etc.) and spoke with one of their workers. I learned that with a B&B of 5 rooms, we'll need to ask for a gebruiksvergunning (permission for particular use of something). Someone from the city hall would then come by and check for things like emerency exits, etc. But in general, she reacted positively to our idea. I pointed out that I thought a B&B would be good for Bunnik, and she agreed. I also asked about a horecavergunning. It turns out that a horecavergunning is permission for serving alcohol, and only for serving alcohol (although the name suggests that it is about horeca in general: hotels, restaurants and catering.) If we don't serve alcohol (for a payment), we only need a gebruiksvergunning. We can still serve alcohol for "closed" parties and receptions, or for example as part of a chamber music concert during an intermission, as long as the cost is part of the entrance price. I don't think this is how they do it in America, but fine... I think I understand what the rules are now, even if they don't make sense to me.
At the city hall, I also asked about the wedding situation. We had heard from the owners that the city wanted to continue using one of the rooms for wedding ceremonies. I learned that yes, the upstairs hall had been used for weddings before and we could probably continue that. If it is something we enjoy doing and we put some effort into it, we might end up hosting more than the current owners have. But, Bunnik is not like Utrecht and there isn't a huge waiting list for getting married. They do about 50 weddings a year in Bunnik, and that is including Fort Vechten, which is quite a popular location. My conclusion: we aren't going to be doing weddings every month -- but with a good website and outreach, we might be able to appeal to the Utrecht market a bit. If you are free to go to another gemeente to get married, and Utrecht has long waiting lists and Bunnik is very close by.... it doesn't take a rocket scientist...
At the end of our talk, the woman told me about a new organisation in the area that might be interesting to me. She found a full-page ad in the local paper (and here is the website: www.streekhuiskrommerijn.nl) The ad was to promote their opening ceremony on April 4th, but when I read it, I thought, I need to drive right over to their offices now! So I did. They were very friendly and helpful. Apparently, Streek Huis Kromme Rijn is an organization (with a large budget from the national government) to care for the whole Kromme Rijn region -- focusing on the environment, agriculture, history, tourism, and quality of life. Of course, they don't have money to give to an individual B&B, but it is good to know that they are doing things that are likely to make our B&B more successful, like adding more bicycle paths and promoting organic farming. I think we could arrange some sort of open door event, or a canoe or bicycle tour, featuring eco-friendly companies and farms, etc., and apply for a grant to cover our expenses. The people there also suggested that I contact a group called Terecht Anders (www.terechtanders.nl), that works specifically with B&B's, tourist-oriented businesses, farms, producers of organic products, and artists in the area.
My last stop on Thursday was at Amelisweerd, where people I know through Rio de Bio have a tea house (called the bezoekerscentrum -- it is coupled on their kitchen, which is called the Veldkeuken.) I spoke with Juliette there, who was also very helpful and friendly. At their tea house, they haven't seen any negative effects from the economic situation. They have a conference room upstairs that they rent out for 50 Euros for a "dagdeel" (part of a day, usually 4 hours) and it is no problem finding people who want to use it. Frequently those people then eat lunch in the tea house. They have a loyal following, people who are very disappointed when they hear that the room is taken. If Juliette tries to refer them to the youth hostel, they aren't very happy ("it's just not the right atmosphere" -- I think Paulus was right...) Juliette said they would be very happy to work with us, refer their clients to us for the B&B and/or our meeting rooms, and do catering for us (their food is all organic and really delicious -- we'd be crazy to try to make the same products ourselves.)
I really like the way they have set up the tea house, with rough wooden benches and tables, displays of local products and books, flowers, nature drawings on the walls. Like Samaya, it feels friendly and peaceful. And it is also right on the Kromme Rijn, so I'm sure we could cooperate on hiking, biking and canoeing events.
That was Thursday... I still have to report on Friday, but it is already my bedtime.... until tomorrow!
Extended background: how I came to be in the Netherlands in the first place....
Oh dear. I just got a message from another old high school friend who found me in Facebook. She asked, how did I come to be in Holland? And of course I realize that my annual Christmas newsletters stopped happening when the kids were little, and the yearly visits back to Ithaca stopped being yearly some time ago as well. If I'm going to get properly networked (which is definitely The Thing To Do in 2009), I'd better give a little more than 5 years of background on this blog...
Can I compress my life since graduation into a few paragraphs? Not very easily, but I'll try.
I graduated from Ithaca High School in 1982, and went off to college in Minnesota, eager to "rebrand" myself a little. I'm not sure how successful that was, but in any case I loved Carleton. I graduated from there in 1986 with a BA in geology and a concentration in Natural History. (My senior thesis for my geology major was about flow and sedimentation in a bend in a river, and my thesis for the natural history minor was about sustainable agriculture and land stewardship. Two topics, both of which appeared to have absolutely no relevance to the rest of my life up until this month, oddly....)
In the summer of 1986, I got married to Graham Pugh, a physics major from Cornell whom I had met during one of my summer vacations. Getting married right out of college was not one of the smartest things I've ever done, but hey. It could have been a lot worse. Graham and I were divorced in 2002 or 2003 and we are now very good friends. He lives in Washington DC, is remarried to a wonderful woman, and works for the US Energy Dept as a climate change expert. Our two kids (Alan, 17, and Mara, 13) live with him and his new wife, and they spend a part of each summer with me (or me with them.)
But I'm getting ahead of myself. In 1986, shortly after getting married, Graham and I went off to Kenya to work for the Peace Corps. We taught in two different rural schools, incidentally both in the Luo community where Barack Obama's family is from. It was a life-changing experience in many ways. We were glad to get home, and our families were glad to see us in one piece (much skinnier than when we left but still one piece.) This was before cell phones and internet and everything -- it's hard to imagine.
We returned to Ithaca and lived there a while (we bought a small house in Danby). Alan was born in 1991 and we went for the "divide and conquer" plan: I would handle parenting and household and try to do freelance CAD work and writing and Graham would get his masters in Engineering and look for a tech job that paid decently. We ended up a few years later in Portland OR, where Graham started working for Intel. Portland was nice, I eventually made some good friends there, but life was hard. Graham had to work long hours and for a supervisor he didn't get along with at all. Mara was born in 1996. I was exhausted and depressed and suffering from chronic headaches.
In 1998 we moved to Austin, Texas, on assignment for Intel. My headaches got worse and I eventually ended up at the acupuncture clinic of the Academy of Oriental Medicine. There, to my surprise, I actually got relief. And I started to realize that I was exhausted and depressed (those are things you often don't realize you are experiencing while you are experiencing them....) I decided to enroll in acupuncture school, because I wanted to know how it worked. That was great -- I learned a lot and made new friends who knew me as Emily and not as wife-mother-of-two-housekeeper. But I only completed a year before we moved again.
Graham got a new assignment in Belgium. We were there for three years. It was really hard for me -- no school, no colleagues, no friends, and lots of housekeeping. But I found some small courses to take, in England, that were alternative-health related. I also took a trip to China with friends from the acupuncture school in Texas -- my first time "on my own" without child responsibilities in ... oh... 10 years. That trip made me realize that I needed to take care of my own needs a little better. After returning to Belgium, I arranged to rent a practice room in a nearby town, find a nanny and a housekeeper and actually "be me" for a few hours a day.
Being me turned out to be an interesting adventure. You can read more about it on my website, www.innerfireworks.com. In a nutshell: I started trusting more in my intuition, and weird and exciting stuff started happening. I liked the changes I was experiencing, but Graham didn't. I can't really blame him -- it's not what he signed up for. But I didn't want to go back to the way it was before. So. We separated. Intel wanted him to go back to the US, and I thought/felt: not again. I can't move again. I finally had a little idea about who I was and a circle of friends who supported me in that, and I knew/felt I needed to stay. And I also knew I was in no position to take good care of the kids (still being exhausted and depressed most of the time) so Graham and I arranged for him to take the kids back to the US. Whew. That was a hard paragraph to write.
So, there I was, in 2003, 39 years old, divorced, depressed, and certifiably wacko. I had just channeled a 60,000 word manuscript on self-discovery and spirituality (yes, still unpublished, but I'm going to get around to it!) I was living alone in Belgium without any clear idea why, just a bunch of intuitive impulses. It was rough. But luckily one of those intuitive impulses sent me off to a summer Shiatsu course. That's where I met Paulus. Paulus was living in Utrecht, the Netherlands. We did the long distance relationship thing for a while (until his car died) and then I decided to move again. We got married in 2004. Maybe it isn't so smart to get married to someone you've only known for a year -- but we've been together 5 years now and we're both really happy. No regrets at all.
And in Utrecht, I met another alternative healer who was able to figure out why I was so tired and depressed and prone to headaches: apparently I'm hypersensitive to environmental toxins. Now, as long as I keep on top of things and don't let the pseudo-estrogens or the benzenes or heavy metals build up in my system, I am full of energy and good spirits. Plus my immune system is great -- I got a cold last week but it was the first time in over 4 years.
And now you're pretty much up to date.
Paulus and I moved all my stuff from Belgium to Utrecht in 2004, to the house he had been sharing with Willy (his previous partner, who passed away from cancer just before the Shiatsu course where we met.) We moved all his stuff from a separate apartment he had to that house (including many belongings from his mother who had passed away a few years before.) We moved all Willy's artwork and furniture from out of an artist's studio she had been renting. It was horrible, all that moving! And then the owners of the house where we had moved ALL that stuff into, said we couldn't stay there. We had to get out right away, which is a difficult thing to do in Utrecht because of the intense housing shortage. That's how we ended up here on the Groenedijk. But that was 5 years ago, so the painful memories of endless moving boxes and things getting lost and damaged are quite faded, and I think I'm ready to face it again. Especially if we only have to move across town, and we'll be able to keep our current circle of friends.
And now it is time for a fresh post, with the updates on our potential future home in Bunnik.
Can I compress my life since graduation into a few paragraphs? Not very easily, but I'll try.
I graduated from Ithaca High School in 1982, and went off to college in Minnesota, eager to "rebrand" myself a little. I'm not sure how successful that was, but in any case I loved Carleton. I graduated from there in 1986 with a BA in geology and a concentration in Natural History. (My senior thesis for my geology major was about flow and sedimentation in a bend in a river, and my thesis for the natural history minor was about sustainable agriculture and land stewardship. Two topics, both of which appeared to have absolutely no relevance to the rest of my life up until this month, oddly....)
In the summer of 1986, I got married to Graham Pugh, a physics major from Cornell whom I had met during one of my summer vacations. Getting married right out of college was not one of the smartest things I've ever done, but hey. It could have been a lot worse. Graham and I were divorced in 2002 or 2003 and we are now very good friends. He lives in Washington DC, is remarried to a wonderful woman, and works for the US Energy Dept as a climate change expert. Our two kids (Alan, 17, and Mara, 13) live with him and his new wife, and they spend a part of each summer with me (or me with them.)
But I'm getting ahead of myself. In 1986, shortly after getting married, Graham and I went off to Kenya to work for the Peace Corps. We taught in two different rural schools, incidentally both in the Luo community where Barack Obama's family is from. It was a life-changing experience in many ways. We were glad to get home, and our families were glad to see us in one piece (much skinnier than when we left but still one piece.) This was before cell phones and internet and everything -- it's hard to imagine.
We returned to Ithaca and lived there a while (we bought a small house in Danby). Alan was born in 1991 and we went for the "divide and conquer" plan: I would handle parenting and household and try to do freelance CAD work and writing and Graham would get his masters in Engineering and look for a tech job that paid decently. We ended up a few years later in Portland OR, where Graham started working for Intel. Portland was nice, I eventually made some good friends there, but life was hard. Graham had to work long hours and for a supervisor he didn't get along with at all. Mara was born in 1996. I was exhausted and depressed and suffering from chronic headaches.
In 1998 we moved to Austin, Texas, on assignment for Intel. My headaches got worse and I eventually ended up at the acupuncture clinic of the Academy of Oriental Medicine. There, to my surprise, I actually got relief. And I started to realize that I was exhausted and depressed (those are things you often don't realize you are experiencing while you are experiencing them....) I decided to enroll in acupuncture school, because I wanted to know how it worked. That was great -- I learned a lot and made new friends who knew me as Emily and not as wife-mother-of-two-housekeeper. But I only completed a year before we moved again.
Graham got a new assignment in Belgium. We were there for three years. It was really hard for me -- no school, no colleagues, no friends, and lots of housekeeping. But I found some small courses to take, in England, that were alternative-health related. I also took a trip to China with friends from the acupuncture school in Texas -- my first time "on my own" without child responsibilities in ... oh... 10 years. That trip made me realize that I needed to take care of my own needs a little better. After returning to Belgium, I arranged to rent a practice room in a nearby town, find a nanny and a housekeeper and actually "be me" for a few hours a day.
Being me turned out to be an interesting adventure. You can read more about it on my website, www.innerfireworks.com. In a nutshell: I started trusting more in my intuition, and weird and exciting stuff started happening. I liked the changes I was experiencing, but Graham didn't. I can't really blame him -- it's not what he signed up for. But I didn't want to go back to the way it was before. So. We separated. Intel wanted him to go back to the US, and I thought/felt: not again. I can't move again. I finally had a little idea about who I was and a circle of friends who supported me in that, and I knew/felt I needed to stay. And I also knew I was in no position to take good care of the kids (still being exhausted and depressed most of the time) so Graham and I arranged for him to take the kids back to the US. Whew. That was a hard paragraph to write.
So, there I was, in 2003, 39 years old, divorced, depressed, and certifiably wacko. I had just channeled a 60,000 word manuscript on self-discovery and spirituality (yes, still unpublished, but I'm going to get around to it!) I was living alone in Belgium without any clear idea why, just a bunch of intuitive impulses. It was rough. But luckily one of those intuitive impulses sent me off to a summer Shiatsu course. That's where I met Paulus. Paulus was living in Utrecht, the Netherlands. We did the long distance relationship thing for a while (until his car died) and then I decided to move again. We got married in 2004. Maybe it isn't so smart to get married to someone you've only known for a year -- but we've been together 5 years now and we're both really happy. No regrets at all.
And in Utrecht, I met another alternative healer who was able to figure out why I was so tired and depressed and prone to headaches: apparently I'm hypersensitive to environmental toxins. Now, as long as I keep on top of things and don't let the pseudo-estrogens or the benzenes or heavy metals build up in my system, I am full of energy and good spirits. Plus my immune system is great -- I got a cold last week but it was the first time in over 4 years.
And now you're pretty much up to date.
Paulus and I moved all my stuff from Belgium to Utrecht in 2004, to the house he had been sharing with Willy (his previous partner, who passed away from cancer just before the Shiatsu course where we met.) We moved all his stuff from a separate apartment he had to that house (including many belongings from his mother who had passed away a few years before.) We moved all Willy's artwork and furniture from out of an artist's studio she had been renting. It was horrible, all that moving! And then the owners of the house where we had moved ALL that stuff into, said we couldn't stay there. We had to get out right away, which is a difficult thing to do in Utrecht because of the intense housing shortage. That's how we ended up here on the Groenedijk. But that was 5 years ago, so the painful memories of endless moving boxes and things getting lost and damaged are quite faded, and I think I'm ready to face it again. Especially if we only have to move across town, and we'll be able to keep our current circle of friends.
And now it is time for a fresh post, with the updates on our potential future home in Bunnik.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
we've found a new home?
This is a copy of a letter that I'm sending around to friends..... I haven't figured out how to insert photos the way I want... maybe in the next post!
March 10, 2009
Dear friends,
I am writing you with an update on our lives and “the house” – in English, because I’m also sending this letter to my parents and friends in America. (a word file with this text is attached in case that is easier for you to read.) Ik ga er van uit dat Nederlandse-talige mensen het ook goed kan lezen – als iets niet duidelijk is, vraag maar!
First, the background (for those of you who need catching up….)
We’ve been living on the Groenedijk for almost 5 years now. It is a pretty house, with a nice garden, on a scenic street in the middle of a rather ugly, newly built suburb of Utrecht. We pay 1500 Euro per month (around 1900 US dollars) in rent, which is A LOT to pay for a 3 bedroom house in the Netherlands. We use one bedroom for our Shiatsu and Energy Healing practice, and one bedroom for a Bed & Breakfast, and work hard at our day jobs (handyman service & organic food store), and it is manageable. But not great. The house is in bad repair and the landlord won’t do anything (we’re still in legal proceedings over problems we identified the week we moved in….) Lately we can’t get hot water in the shower. The window frames are rotting away and they leak when it rains. We are frustrated. Last Christmas, we resolved: Christmas 2009 we will celebrate in another house.
The search begins.
We started to think what we would like in a new house. Ideally, we wanted something “bigger and better.” More bedrooms for guests (we like the B&B business a lot), more green (because nature makes us feel good and is also good for our patients and guests), a decent garage for Paulus so his tools never have to hang out in the living room (he has so many that if they are all in his work shed, there’s no room to breathe in there.) But if we’re busy fantasizing anyway, we thought, why not came back to the dream we had when we met? Namely, to create a sort of center/retreat/hospice for stressed-out or chronically ill or terminally ill people, where they can come with their families and loved ones. We would offer healthy food, clean air, relaxing massage/Shiatsu, emotional and spiritual support, etc. It would be fun and fulfilling and financially realistic – that was our dream, from 5 years ago. We had made some steps in that direction over the years but hadn’t gotten very far. Maybe it was time to try again, with more effort and focus?
(Um, yes, and with less pain and desperation. The people in my personal/professional development support group reminded me last night: it didn’t go well before because I was so focused on creating the perfect future situation. Now it feels different: I know we can be out of here by December, one way or another, and it feels like a nice adventure, waiting and watching and exploring how it manifests.)
Good connections
I started surfing the internet a lot in the evenings. Following links from our “green” bank, Triodos, I came to the site http://www.non-nobis.nl/. Non-nobis is a non-profit organization that acts as a sort of property management service for socially responsible enterprises. They buy interesting properties and rent them out to, for example, people who want to create a daycare center for handicapped children or a residential center for people recovering from drug addiction. The renters often get the opportunity to buy the property over time if their enterprise does well. Or they leave and Non-nobis looks for new renters. It looked interesting. If we could “rent to buy”, in cooperation with a “like-minded” organization, maybe we could actually manifest our dream. I mailed their director, Jaap van der Haar, with an outline of our idea. He reacted immediately and positively and we’ve had two in-person conversations, also with his wife Jessica. Wow. They are people of incredible warmth and integrity. We learned that Non-nobis at the moment is not buying any new properties, and all their current properties are occupied until the end of 2009, but there could be possibilities for 2010. Jaap and Jessica are in Brazil at the moment (where they regularly go to work with the street children there) but we have another appointment with them in April.
We get motivated.
Before we met with Jaap, we had to spend quite some time getting our ideas solidly on paper. That was good. Then, hearing from Jaap that he liked our ideas, and that he knew people who could help us with our business plan… well, that was very good. So when it looked like Non-nobis might have something for us in 2010 at the earliest, we thought – good, but maybe we can keep looking on our own in the meantime, since we are feeling so positive and motivated.
We go crazy.
My late-night internet surfing brought me to a house that was for sale, in Bunnik (a cute town/city just south and east of Utrecht.) The pictures of the outside were beautiful, the pictures of the inside were confusing, the price was astronomical – but I was so curious. How does it really look inside? It has 14 rooms, it could be fantastic for a B&B, I suppose. We could never afford it. But. I wanted to see it. It wouldn’t cost anything just to go look, right? The little voices in my head said, “sure, why not? Go have a look…” Oh those voices, getting me in trouble all the time….
I am writing you with an update on our lives and “the house” – in English, because I’m also sending this letter to my parents and friends in America. (a word file with this text is attached in case that is easier for you to read.) Ik ga er van uit dat Nederlandse-talige mensen het ook goed kan lezen – als iets niet duidelijk is, vraag maar!
First, the background (for those of you who need catching up….)
We’ve been living on the Groenedijk for almost 5 years now. It is a pretty house, with a nice garden, on a scenic street in the middle of a rather ugly, newly built suburb of Utrecht. We pay 1500 Euro per month (around 1900 US dollars) in rent, which is A LOT to pay for a 3 bedroom house in the Netherlands. We use one bedroom for our Shiatsu and Energy Healing practice, and one bedroom for a Bed & Breakfast, and work hard at our day jobs (handyman service & organic food store), and it is manageable. But not great. The house is in bad repair and the landlord won’t do anything (we’re still in legal proceedings over problems we identified the week we moved in….) Lately we can’t get hot water in the shower. The window frames are rotting away and they leak when it rains. We are frustrated. Last Christmas, we resolved: Christmas 2009 we will celebrate in another house.
The search begins.
We started to think what we would like in a new house. Ideally, we wanted something “bigger and better.” More bedrooms for guests (we like the B&B business a lot), more green (because nature makes us feel good and is also good for our patients and guests), a decent garage for Paulus so his tools never have to hang out in the living room (he has so many that if they are all in his work shed, there’s no room to breathe in there.) But if we’re busy fantasizing anyway, we thought, why not came back to the dream we had when we met? Namely, to create a sort of center/retreat/hospice for stressed-out or chronically ill or terminally ill people, where they can come with their families and loved ones. We would offer healthy food, clean air, relaxing massage/Shiatsu, emotional and spiritual support, etc. It would be fun and fulfilling and financially realistic – that was our dream, from 5 years ago. We had made some steps in that direction over the years but hadn’t gotten very far. Maybe it was time to try again, with more effort and focus?
(Um, yes, and with less pain and desperation. The people in my personal/professional development support group reminded me last night: it didn’t go well before because I was so focused on creating the perfect future situation. Now it feels different: I know we can be out of here by December, one way or another, and it feels like a nice adventure, waiting and watching and exploring how it manifests.)
Good connections
I started surfing the internet a lot in the evenings. Following links from our “green” bank, Triodos, I came to the site http://www.non-nobis.nl/. Non-nobis is a non-profit organization that acts as a sort of property management service for socially responsible enterprises. They buy interesting properties and rent them out to, for example, people who want to create a daycare center for handicapped children or a residential center for people recovering from drug addiction. The renters often get the opportunity to buy the property over time if their enterprise does well. Or they leave and Non-nobis looks for new renters. It looked interesting. If we could “rent to buy”, in cooperation with a “like-minded” organization, maybe we could actually manifest our dream. I mailed their director, Jaap van der Haar, with an outline of our idea. He reacted immediately and positively and we’ve had two in-person conversations, also with his wife Jessica. Wow. They are people of incredible warmth and integrity. We learned that Non-nobis at the moment is not buying any new properties, and all their current properties are occupied until the end of 2009, but there could be possibilities for 2010. Jaap and Jessica are in Brazil at the moment (where they regularly go to work with the street children there) but we have another appointment with them in April.
We get motivated.
Before we met with Jaap, we had to spend quite some time getting our ideas solidly on paper. That was good. Then, hearing from Jaap that he liked our ideas, and that he knew people who could help us with our business plan… well, that was very good. So when it looked like Non-nobis might have something for us in 2010 at the earliest, we thought – good, but maybe we can keep looking on our own in the meantime, since we are feeling so positive and motivated.
We go crazy.
My late-night internet surfing brought me to a house that was for sale, in Bunnik (a cute town/city just south and east of Utrecht.) The pictures of the outside were beautiful, the pictures of the inside were confusing, the price was astronomical – but I was so curious. How does it really look inside? It has 14 rooms, it could be fantastic for a B&B, I suppose. We could never afford it. But. I wanted to see it. It wouldn’t cost anything just to go look, right? The little voices in my head said, “sure, why not? Go have a look…” Oh those voices, getting me in trouble all the time….
The house.
You can see it at http://www.funda.nl/woningaanbod/koop/Detail/Default.aspx?id=804edf5a-1a2c-44bd-b994-d4ecfd8d9499&objecttype=DetailKoopObject&hbx=1
It has a name: Huis aan de Brug (House by the bridge). It is the oldest house in Bunnik – the date on the front is 1674, but that is actually the year it was restored after the invading French army burned all of Bunnik to the ground. Since that time, it has been used as an inn and café, up until the 1930’s. There are several history books written about it. In 1980, the house was bought by the city and completely restored, and functioned as the Bunnik city hall until 1996. The current owners bought it from the city and have an antique showroom and restoration business in it, as well as their own living quarters. They want to (semi-)retire now, and have already bought a smaller property in Zeeland. They get the keys on May 1, but will have to do about 6 months of restoration there. So, the Huis aan de Brug would be available anywhere between May and December. The house is on the market for 1,875,000 Euro – with closing costs and a bit extra to cover remodeling, we’re talking 2 million. Whew. CRAZY!!!
Oh, and I should mention that the bridge (from the name) crosses the Kromme Rijn river (seen in the pictures) and then you are in one of the nicest nature preserves in the whole province of Utrecht. Walking trails and biking trails and an old fort to explore and a pancake house for tourists….
Reality check
I open my spreadsheets and we look through the floor plans and scratch our heads – could we actually live there and generate enough income to pay the bills? 3 rooms for private use (a bedroom, the kitchen, and living/dining room), 5 rooms upstairs for the bed and breakfast, 2 rooms downstairs that we could rent out as small meeting rooms – one of these would have our massage table etc in it and could be rented out as a practice room. One room downstairs as a dining room (buffet style) for B&B guests and other users. A large main entry way, where we could put a reception desk, just outside another room that would be the office. A large common space upstairs, which we would make into the living room/lounge for guests and other users, with a side area under the sloped roof that would be perfect for a children’s play area. Plus – two huge halls – each around 10 x 15 meters! Which we would use… as…. as…. The possibilities were overwhelming… Our brains shut down.
Thinking bigger
We decide, clearly we need to take a new approach. This place has too much potential. A B&B plus Shiatsu treatments only uses about a third of the space available. We need to think bigger. How can we use whole building in a way that (a) is fun, (b) pays the bills, and (c) contributes somehow to making “the world a better place.” We don’t like the idea of putting in a restaurant or hosting late-night parties (that wouldn’t fit with our other goals) but really, everything else is possible. Art expositions. Theatre performances. Concerts. Yoga classes. Lectures. Workshops. Trainings. Wine tastings (organic, of course). Catered dinner parties. Gift shop. Ladies evening knitting circles. Everything.
One possibility that already exists is to host wedding ceremonies (the house is one of only 6 approved locations for weddings in the city/region of Bunnik). Adding the possibility for wedding receptions seems logical. We would want to get a “horeca vergunning” (permission to run a kitchen and serve alcohol), and those can be difficult to get -- but we know that the city is very eager to use the place for weddings again, so I think we can make a deal with them.
Getting help
By now you’ve realized that this is *way* more than Emily and Paulus can do alone. We need help. We need ideas for how we can use the space and people to help organize it. I have a colleague who is an artist with lots of connections – she’s already said she’d love to help us plan art shows, etc. (Thanks Bea!) A friend of hers gives weekend residential art classes at scenic locations – often in France or Switzerland, but with the economy these days she is very open to doing something more local. We have friends in the musical community. And the health and healing community. And of course friends in the organic food sector (through my job at Rio de Bio) In fact, several of our suppliers at the store are located in that area. Through the Utrecht Ondernemers Academy (a school for people starting businesses which Paulus and I attended last year) we know caterers and events organizers and graphics designers and lots of talented people. Another friend, a teacher, has already organized all the business and economics teachers at his college to critique our proposal. (Thanks Ron!) With everyone’s help, I think we can put together a good plan, and one that benefits everyone involved.
The money side
The success of this project depends on a good plan – and also a Good Amount of Money. We are going to try to get a regular mortgage, rather than a business loan, because the terms are much better. We don’t have money ourselves – not in a Good Amount, anyway – but I think/hope my parents do! (I’m going to call them in a few days, after I have my spreadsheets assembled.) It is tricky that they are not Dutch, and I don’t want them to have to give or lend me the money, but I think it would work if they put the money in a sort of security account here in Holland. Then it would be in their names and earning them interest (just like it does now, in the US), and acting as a buffer if we get in trouble. (which we won’t, because if there is a chance of that, we aren’t even going to start.)
If anyone has more information about getting a mortgage this way, we’d be glad to hear it! It is also possible that we will need actual Dutch citizens to act as guarantors (as a back-up for the bank, in the highly unlikely situation where we can’t make our payments and can’t sell the house and all of the Good Amount of Money gets used up.) If anyone has any ideas who we could ask, we’d be glad to hear that, too.
Information
Really, information of all kinds is what we need most, and what I’m going to be gathering all week. How much does it typically cost to rent rooms like these? How fully booked are rooms like these at comparable locations? What would we have to pay to rent or buy video equipment, organic cotton mattresses, a new stainless-steel professional kitchen, good quality terrace umbrellas, etc.? Can we find a cleaning service that works exclusively with natural/organic products and what would that cost? Would it make sense to rent out bikes as well? (there’s a separate bike storage area behind the garage/workshop). We want to add an infra-red sauna to go with our hot tub – what would that cost and do we need to get permission from the city? If we want to add solar panels or a wind turbine, are we allowed and what would that cost? Would patient support groups (for cancer patients, diabetes patients, etc.) be interested in using our spaces and do they have journals where we could advertise our B&B rooms to their members? What about environmentally-oriented groups and services?
Staying connected
I’m *so* full of questions and I can’t wait to start researching – but I know it is really important to stay connected. Our friends are really the ones that are going to make this possible – and you are the ones we want to share it with when it is ready (and boy are we going to have a fantastic openings feest!) Even a simple, “this sounds great, good luck!” reaction from someone is great motivation to keep working. (Thanks Jim and David and tante Riek!)
What I’m going to do, to help with the “staying connected” piece, is to post this letter, plus some photos etc., on a blog site I started last December. http://www.emilyfinnadams.blogspot.com/. I’ll also use the blog as a central place to put updates. Plus thank-you messages. So, stay tuned and feel free to tell anyone else who might be interested!
Until next time,
Love, Emily and Paulus
You can see it at http://www.funda.nl/woningaanbod/koop/Detail/Default.aspx?id=804edf5a-1a2c-44bd-b994-d4ecfd8d9499&objecttype=DetailKoopObject&hbx=1
It has a name: Huis aan de Brug (House by the bridge). It is the oldest house in Bunnik – the date on the front is 1674, but that is actually the year it was restored after the invading French army burned all of Bunnik to the ground. Since that time, it has been used as an inn and café, up until the 1930’s. There are several history books written about it. In 1980, the house was bought by the city and completely restored, and functioned as the Bunnik city hall until 1996. The current owners bought it from the city and have an antique showroom and restoration business in it, as well as their own living quarters. They want to (semi-)retire now, and have already bought a smaller property in Zeeland. They get the keys on May 1, but will have to do about 6 months of restoration there. So, the Huis aan de Brug would be available anywhere between May and December. The house is on the market for 1,875,000 Euro – with closing costs and a bit extra to cover remodeling, we’re talking 2 million. Whew. CRAZY!!!
Oh, and I should mention that the bridge (from the name) crosses the Kromme Rijn river (seen in the pictures) and then you are in one of the nicest nature preserves in the whole province of Utrecht. Walking trails and biking trails and an old fort to explore and a pancake house for tourists….
Reality check
I open my spreadsheets and we look through the floor plans and scratch our heads – could we actually live there and generate enough income to pay the bills? 3 rooms for private use (a bedroom, the kitchen, and living/dining room), 5 rooms upstairs for the bed and breakfast, 2 rooms downstairs that we could rent out as small meeting rooms – one of these would have our massage table etc in it and could be rented out as a practice room. One room downstairs as a dining room (buffet style) for B&B guests and other users. A large main entry way, where we could put a reception desk, just outside another room that would be the office. A large common space upstairs, which we would make into the living room/lounge for guests and other users, with a side area under the sloped roof that would be perfect for a children’s play area. Plus – two huge halls – each around 10 x 15 meters! Which we would use… as…. as…. The possibilities were overwhelming… Our brains shut down.
Thinking bigger
We decide, clearly we need to take a new approach. This place has too much potential. A B&B plus Shiatsu treatments only uses about a third of the space available. We need to think bigger. How can we use whole building in a way that (a) is fun, (b) pays the bills, and (c) contributes somehow to making “the world a better place.” We don’t like the idea of putting in a restaurant or hosting late-night parties (that wouldn’t fit with our other goals) but really, everything else is possible. Art expositions. Theatre performances. Concerts. Yoga classes. Lectures. Workshops. Trainings. Wine tastings (organic, of course). Catered dinner parties. Gift shop. Ladies evening knitting circles. Everything.
One possibility that already exists is to host wedding ceremonies (the house is one of only 6 approved locations for weddings in the city/region of Bunnik). Adding the possibility for wedding receptions seems logical. We would want to get a “horeca vergunning” (permission to run a kitchen and serve alcohol), and those can be difficult to get -- but we know that the city is very eager to use the place for weddings again, so I think we can make a deal with them.
Getting help
By now you’ve realized that this is *way* more than Emily and Paulus can do alone. We need help. We need ideas for how we can use the space and people to help organize it. I have a colleague who is an artist with lots of connections – she’s already said she’d love to help us plan art shows, etc. (Thanks Bea!) A friend of hers gives weekend residential art classes at scenic locations – often in France or Switzerland, but with the economy these days she is very open to doing something more local. We have friends in the musical community. And the health and healing community. And of course friends in the organic food sector (through my job at Rio de Bio) In fact, several of our suppliers at the store are located in that area. Through the Utrecht Ondernemers Academy (a school for people starting businesses which Paulus and I attended last year) we know caterers and events organizers and graphics designers and lots of talented people. Another friend, a teacher, has already organized all the business and economics teachers at his college to critique our proposal. (Thanks Ron!) With everyone’s help, I think we can put together a good plan, and one that benefits everyone involved.
The money side
The success of this project depends on a good plan – and also a Good Amount of Money. We are going to try to get a regular mortgage, rather than a business loan, because the terms are much better. We don’t have money ourselves – not in a Good Amount, anyway – but I think/hope my parents do! (I’m going to call them in a few days, after I have my spreadsheets assembled.) It is tricky that they are not Dutch, and I don’t want them to have to give or lend me the money, but I think it would work if they put the money in a sort of security account here in Holland. Then it would be in their names and earning them interest (just like it does now, in the US), and acting as a buffer if we get in trouble. (which we won’t, because if there is a chance of that, we aren’t even going to start.)
If anyone has more information about getting a mortgage this way, we’d be glad to hear it! It is also possible that we will need actual Dutch citizens to act as guarantors (as a back-up for the bank, in the highly unlikely situation where we can’t make our payments and can’t sell the house and all of the Good Amount of Money gets used up.) If anyone has any ideas who we could ask, we’d be glad to hear that, too.
Information
Really, information of all kinds is what we need most, and what I’m going to be gathering all week. How much does it typically cost to rent rooms like these? How fully booked are rooms like these at comparable locations? What would we have to pay to rent or buy video equipment, organic cotton mattresses, a new stainless-steel professional kitchen, good quality terrace umbrellas, etc.? Can we find a cleaning service that works exclusively with natural/organic products and what would that cost? Would it make sense to rent out bikes as well? (there’s a separate bike storage area behind the garage/workshop). We want to add an infra-red sauna to go with our hot tub – what would that cost and do we need to get permission from the city? If we want to add solar panels or a wind turbine, are we allowed and what would that cost? Would patient support groups (for cancer patients, diabetes patients, etc.) be interested in using our spaces and do they have journals where we could advertise our B&B rooms to their members? What about environmentally-oriented groups and services?
Staying connected
I’m *so* full of questions and I can’t wait to start researching – but I know it is really important to stay connected. Our friends are really the ones that are going to make this possible – and you are the ones we want to share it with when it is ready (and boy are we going to have a fantastic openings feest!) Even a simple, “this sounds great, good luck!” reaction from someone is great motivation to keep working. (Thanks Jim and David and tante Riek!)
What I’m going to do, to help with the “staying connected” piece, is to post this letter, plus some photos etc., on a blog site I started last December. http://www.emilyfinnadams.blogspot.com/. I’ll also use the blog as a central place to put updates. Plus thank-you messages. So, stay tuned and feel free to tell anyone else who might be interested!
Until next time,
Love, Emily and Paulus
Friday, December 26, 2008
In 10 minutes I open a blog
Is this really how a blog works? Am I happy with the template I chose? And the title... I could easily take a week to try to come up with the perfect title.
But I don't want to spend a week on that, I want to get straight to writing. About my dreams. No, not the ones I have at night -- those are usually not very interesting. I want to write about my dreams for the future... with, now and then, a bit of background so that it makes some sense to any people who might read this.
I don't know, but maybe some people will read this -- anyway, it is my intention to send the address around to the many, many relatives and friends with whom I've lost contact, because otherwise I will have to write a 10 pages to each one of them to try to explain what I've been up to, and that just isn't feasible. Especially if I want to devote most of my time to manifesting my dreams.
And now... I will click "publish" and have a look at what I've got so far.....
But I don't want to spend a week on that, I want to get straight to writing. About my dreams. No, not the ones I have at night -- those are usually not very interesting. I want to write about my dreams for the future... with, now and then, a bit of background so that it makes some sense to any people who might read this.
I don't know, but maybe some people will read this -- anyway, it is my intention to send the address around to the many, many relatives and friends with whom I've lost contact, because otherwise I will have to write a 10 pages to each one of them to try to explain what I've been up to, and that just isn't feasible. Especially if I want to devote most of my time to manifesting my dreams.
And now... I will click "publish" and have a look at what I've got so far.....
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