Along the gravel winding roads you see many different types of houses passing by: a villa with apartments, tiny houses, wooden Scandinavian houses or, for example, life-resistant homes that are built on one floor. It is as some would say a ‘hodgepodge’. Although, according to others, it could have been even more colorful. “I had expected more artistic homes,” says Johan Hardholt. He has been living on the Lieverveld for three years now.
Hardholt has lived in six houses in his life that were completely stripped or built from scratch. From Frisian farms to sleek houses in Wassenaar style. He’s tried everything. “People sometimes underestimate how important a home is. I’ve looked at more than a hundred houses and I didn’t want to live there. Just drive through some parts of the Nagtegael district, it makes you sad. That’s so poky. It’s about quality , not quantity. I now know exactly what I want. For example, I don’t want useless spaces in my house.”
But finding the right architect for his dream house was difficult. “One is even a bigger swindler than the other,” laughs Hardholt. “So then I started to doubt whether I should cancel my option on the lot.” Eventually his son, who works as a violinist and has no construction background, comes up with a plan. “He said, ‘Dad, I know exactly what you want, I’ll draw something’. With that drawing we went to a contractor and we asked him if he could build it for a certain price. The contractor said: This is no more sketch, this is a whole construction drawing and he got to work.”
Is Hardholt satisfied now? He says yes. His wish list is packed in a house. A space for music, motorcycles or other hobbies. A veranda with a roof, a fireplace with a fireplace on two sides, a high living room and wooden exterior walls that require no maintenance for the time being. “You can realize a dream here. It will be a very nice neighborhood soon.”