There ís a place like home

If you look at the lyrics of this "bird song" you can do nothing but conclude that if ever a text was confusing, it is this one. It says that there is no place like home but everyone reads it as that there is such a place. Well, beats me, language is a complicated thing. Or is our brain fooling us? In any case, this is going to be the fourth and last post showing the homes where I live(d). If you want to see the previous ones, please look here for number one, two and three.
Post #3 ended with our house on the Rembrandtweg in Amstelveen. We moved to the southern part of the same village on February 1, 1988. There we bought half of a socalled 'two-under-one-roof'. 

32 De Zon, Amstelveen

We lived there very happily for a little over 20 years. In case you want to see the inside and the garden, please see the very first blog I ever wrote, in 2008. That was when we wanted to sell the house. Unfortunately the asking price that you see there is not the price for which it was sold eventually. 
Already for a number of years it was our intention to move to a quieter part of the country, preferably near the beach. So in 2007 we found a condo in Castricum, just 3 miles from the coast line. We moved there on November 17, 2008.

Triade, Castricum

We live in the red apartment building just below the center of the picture. Ours has an impressive 270 degrees view from almost the east to the north. On a clear day we can see the cranes in the Amsterdam Africa docks in the south east and Krommenie in the east. And on a not so clear day the steel mill (formerly known as the Hoogovens) in Velzen (south west) as well. Castricum is a lot smaller than Amstelveen. It has some 20,000 inhabitants. In case you are wondering whether such a small village has all the facilities one needs, there is a home for elderly people to the north of our apartment complex and a cemetery immediately adjacent to us. What more can two retired people want?

To be  continued with the houses my wife lived in before we got married.

Both photo's made by myself on Jun. 2, 2008 and Apr. 27, 2012 resp.

Sold! (2)

Ter beantwoording van de vraag waarom het eerste deel van dit onderwerp 'Sold' in het Engels is gesteld, dat had een commerciële reden.

In Amstelveen en Buitenveldert woont/woonde een omvangrijke Japanse gemeenschap, zo'n 3000 mensen, allemaal z.g. expats. Doorgaans zijn dat redelijk kapitaalkrachtige mensen, maar het spreken/lezen van Nederlands, behoort niet tot hun favoriete bezigheden. Ze zijn weliswaar meer ge-interesseerd in huurwoningen maar je hebt er natuurlijk maar eentje nodig die wegens een langer verblijf, wel wil kopen.

Daarom hebben we een advertentie geplaatst op een site die veel door Japanners bekeken werd (zie afbeelding). Voor de liefhebbers www.baibainet.com. Feit is dat ons huis ook daadwerkelijk aan een Japans echtpaar verkocht is geweest. Tot en met het tekenen van de akte bij de notaris aan toe! Helaas moesten zij in de afkoelingsperiode weer afhaken omdat ze naar Japan werden teruggeroepen... Overigens kwam het contact met deze mensen niet tot stand via genoemde website of via onze advertentie bij de Amstelveense supermarkten (hebben we ook nog gedaan!) maar via buren in De Zon: Thea & Hans.

Daarom dus de Engelse teksten zo hier en daar.

Sold!

It took some time but our house in De Zon has been sold, finally!
The new owners are doing some reconstruction now.
We wish them good luck in their new property.

En for the record, we hebben het huis te koop gezet op 5 oktober 2007 en verkocht op 1 juli 2010. Dat zijn welgeteld 1366 dagen! Wat je noemt 'een teken des tijds'.

HOUSE FOR SALE IN AMSTELVEEN (MIDDENHOVEN)

FOR SALE

ADDRESS: DE ZON 32, 1188 GH AMSTELVEEN

ASKING: € 439.000 K.K.*

Well maintained half of double house with a garage (including attic), generous plot of 235 sq. metres and a sunny location on the west. This corner house was built in 1987 and is located in the quiet residential Middenhoven area with shops, schools and a.o. light rail 51 to Amsterdam in the vicinity. There is no through traffic, the Bovenkerkerpolder with the Nesserlaantje is around the corner!

The lay out of this house is as follows:

Ground floor:

Landscaped, paved and fenced front garden with private parking, the area in front of the main entrance is weather protected.


Front door / hall with stairs to the first floor, cupboard with water/gas/electricity meters and the recently revamped toilet.





L-shaped sunny living room (36 sq. metres) with white tiles and floor heating, sliding French windows to the garden and an electric sunshade. From the seating area the garden is in full view.

In the kitchen there is a beautiful granite stone u-shaped sink (4.50 m x 0.60 m). Also mirrored walls and ceiling high cabinets. This Miele-kitchen is equipped with a combination microwave, oven, refrigerator, 4 burner gas hotplates, close-in boiler, dishwasher (Bosch) and a stainless steel chimney annex hood.

1st Floor: landing, 3 bedrooms, the master bedroom at the front with a size of 4.31 m x 3m. The other bedrooms have dimensions 2.67 m x 2.10 m and 3.60 m x 3.00 m. The bathroom is fully tiled with a bath, washbasin, additional toilet and separate shower.

2nd Floor: this floor is divided in two parts. The front area houses the central boiler (AWB, 2001) and the washing machine and electric dryer. Adjacent to this area there is a separate room suitable for use as a bedroom or an office.

Garage: Stone mounted garage with dimensions 6.29 m x 2.75 m, with attic. In addition, a rollup door on the front and a door to the backyard.

Garden: The attractively landscaped backyard has planted borders and terraces. It is beautifully paved. The backyard faces west and has many protected spaces. It can be characterized as a large, sunny garden measuring over 110 sq. metres.

Good to know: --- Well built '2-under-1-roof' with garage --- Double glazing in all windows --- Alarm system with remote control --- Garden easily maintained --- Various extensions on ground, 1st and 2nd floor possible --- Delivery: to be mutually agreed but early delivery possible.


For further information and/or an appointment to view the premises please contact our real estate agent Hamer & Ran Garantiemakelaars in Uithoorn, phone 0297-565511.


* K.K. stands for 'Kosten Koper' meaning that all further cost, such as notary cost and tax, are for account of the buyer.