Deventer, Holland

Our family consists of Matthijs ('80), Marjon ('81), Hanna (jan '12), Jorien (apr. '14) and Wouter (nov '15). We have a spacious familyhome (160 m²) from the 30's (renovated couple of times) with 5 bedrooms. The house is situated in one of the districts just outside the city centre of Deventer. So the nice centre, the highway to all major city's of the Netherlands, the railwaystation as well as the river IJssel and hiking or MTB-trails in the countryside are easily accessible. Furthermore is Deventer situated at the border of 'de hoge Veluwe', the largest National Park of the Netherlands. So also for those who love to explore the wild-life in the Netherlands it's the place to be.

The house is equipped with all you would expect from a family home : washing machine, tumble dryer, hot-air oven, magnetron, computer, broadband internet, wifi, HTPC, chrome cast, wii, toys for toddlers/pre-scholars, bicycles (2x 28" with child's seats, 28", 26", 22", 20", 1 cargo-bike with child's seats), etc.

We have 1 bathroom with toilet, a separate toilet and 5 bedrooms : 1 masterbedroom with 2 beds; 3 sleeping rooms for the kids: 2 of them with an adult bed (90 x 200 cm) and 1with a bed for a child (75 x 165 cm); and 1 guest-room with an adult-beds (so 6 beds in total : 5 adults, 1 child). Rearranging the beds over the rooms for the holiday is no problem. We also have a child-bed in storage so putting that one back is also no big deal.

In the backyard we have a above ground pool (2 x 3 m) and within 100 meters of our house there is an area with a double swing, a slide, a basketball field and an urban soccer field.

Deventer is one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands. It's a city of almost 100.000 inhabitants in the central part of the Netherlands, located at the river IJssel. Due to the age of the city, there are many old churches and buildings to visit in Deventer (St. Lebuin's Church, the City Archive and Athenaeum Library), but also less old sights like the Toy Museum. Due to its central location, a large part of the Netherlands is accessible within 1 hour drive : Amsterdam : 85 km, Rotterdam : 115 km, The Hague : 125 km, etc.

During his teenage-years Matthijs has had several years of home-exchange experience with his parents (NL0038). Now we're married we have had one home-exchange experience in 2011 (with another organisation) and from 2015 on with Intervac to Germany, France, Belgium and Danmark.

Please note : Matthijs is allergic for cats, so we unfortunately can't swap with a family who has indoor cats. Outdoor cats who only live outside and aren't allowed in the house at all are no problem.