Blogs by Marieke

My parents were thrilled with the news that one of their children wanted to live in the parental home. My father still lived when we made the deal, but sadly he passed away shortly after that. Such a shame, we would have loved to see him racing on the John Deere lawnmower.

How did we come to move from Noordwijk to De Ruigenhoek? We tell that story in this blog. In 2005 my parents decided to move into an apartment. My father had difficulty walking and it became too much for them to continue living on the farm.

In the summer of 2020, Oohm is located in the country house on the estate of the noble family Barnaart. They have beautifully restored the property with beautiful design details. Many events and workshops are also organized.

I was born at home on July 30, 1961, and yes, I was born in what is now the kitchen in the farm. The kitchen was my parents' bedroom at the time. I was the 4th in a row (girl, boy, boy, girl), after me there was another sweet little sister.

The history is that our farm (that's how we call the large holiday home) is more than 400 years old and is referred to as "Bethlehem" on some old water maps. The farm has been owned by the Smit family, my father's family, for more than 100 years.