It Begins with a Boathouse in Leeuwarden

We live and we float.

Summer 2022 brings my Owners plenty of heatwaves and drought, but fortunately less COVID-19, so people are able to go outside their houses more. This year, my Owners decided to spend several days in Leeuwarden, the capital city of Friesland, a Dutch province located up in the north, in order to be somewhere colder (north is cold, right?). So they got what they wanted, which was about 2 degrees colder at 31 C instead of the 33 C in the south (sad). But what was important was that they got to stay in a houseboat.

My Lady Owner loves houseboats. Always was, since she watched Murder by Numbers. Even more after she lived in London and saw a lot of houseboats on the canal near her campus. Even more after she moved to the Netherlands.

The country is positively the land of houseboats (even though houseboats are on the water hehe). So far, no houseboats in our city Dordrecht, but plenty everywhere else. It had been a dream of LO. That particular houseboat in Leeuwarden made her fall in love with the lifestyle even more than ever. A property listed on Airbnb, she lies juuuust on the periphery of the historic city center, on the canal next to a beautiful old bridge. In a hot sweltering summer, it means you can sit on the boat’s picturesque, petunia-bombed little balcony, waving to countless of people on their own boats sailing by. Or you can choose to pretend not to see them and chat with the ducks instead. Whichever suits your fancy.

In a hot sweltering summer, the sleeping quarter that is located downstairs (means, LO believes, a bit under the water level) offers shade and a much cooler temperature than above water. In a cold winter, the water acts like an insulation, hence it’s snug and warm under there.

Living in a houseboat is an alluring lifestyle. It is also of course cheaper than living in an actual house. Hence, in Amsterdam alone (according to holland.com ), there are about 2,500 houseboats (presumably less in Leeuwarden, but you get the point). These boats usually have their permanent spots on the water instead of sailing away from time to time like normal boats. They are also very tightly anchored to make sure they don’t give their inhabitants any kind of sea-sickness.

Now, unsurprisingly, the Dutch are quite adept in converting boats into liveable floating tiny houses, or simply manufacturing boats that are intended for living. My Lady Owner is enamoured: these boathouses are not only cleverly-designed, but they are also oh-so-beautiful.

A boathouse on Amstel river, Amsterdam. Image credit: elle.com NL.

The interior of a boathouse styled by Frans Uyterlinde. Image credit: vtwonen.nl .

Again, you can also rent them for holiday, the way my Owners did this summer!

A modern boat-villa located in Giethoorn. That Giethoorn indeed. Image credit: tripadvisor.nl .

To sail or not to sail.

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