They are making significant progress: the Knarrenhof Foundation. These ‘courtyards for seniors’ are being built throughout the Netherlands. Everyone lives alone. But also a little together. The first knarrenhofje in Northern Netherlands is located in Drenthe and is located in Emmen.
There are 23 lifelong homes in the Emmermeer district. The first homes were completed at the end of June and the residents received their keys. When we go to take a look, some of them are still among the moving boxes. Rooms are still being finished, items are being moved and new kitchens are being installed.
42 people live in the Knarrenhof. The youngest is 57, the oldest 87. At the end of 2019, concrete plans for a knarrenhof were created in Emmen. Three and a half years later, those plans have become reality. At the entrance to the courtyard there is a plaque with the names of all the first residents.
The text continues below the video
Some of them meet today in the court house. A communal space where residents can organize all sorts of things. They make plans for the design of their shared courtyard garden. All houses border the courtyard garden. Some people want more parking spaces, while others would like more greenery. Agreements have been made about how many people must agree with the plans.
The Knarrenhof Foundation is behind this type of housing. Emmen is the eighth courtyard. They think big, preferably a knarrenhof in every neighborhood in the Netherlands. Because for a few years now there have been more people over 50 living in the Netherlands than people under fifty. And we all have to live independently for longer and longer. “You don’t have to go through the courtyard with a tub under your arm to wash your neighbor,” explains Peter Prak of the foundation. “But we do want you to look after each other. Just run an errand for the neighbor. Ring the bell if you see that the curtains are still closed halfway through the morning, while someone is normally always awake before eight. Things like that.”
The courtiers come from all over the country, but also from Drenthe and Emmen themselves. We meet Westerners Jos and Marijke, but also Peter Opdam and Roely Hubert who show us around the garden.