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D W E L L I N G W I T H D E S I G N
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128
Theo
The only interviewee who was living in a brand new building was Theo. Theo
had lived his whole life in a block of flats and always thought that it would be
awful to live away from the city centre, in a detached house. But while working
abroad, he learned that he actually liked living in a detached house.
T: [Since childhood] I always lived in the centre or at least close by, in
Kallio [a neighbourhood in central Helsinki] or thereabouts. But in
Holland (pause) actually, I haven’t (pause) It would have been difficult
for me to imagine moving somewhere, for example to Järvenpää
[a small city, 40 minutes drive from Helsinki], unless I had had that
Holland experience, that a human can live in a detached house, for
real. (laughs) (Theo 04 38-42)
Consequently, when Theo inherited part of a plot of land, he decided to build
the couple’s home there. In Theo’s case, this meant that he really built the home
himself, by at least assisting the professional builders. Theo had little experience
with building, but building a home provided him with an opportunity to
do what he wanted, as opposed to renovating an existing building.
T: I have never ever built, so now I have got permission to do what I
want. If you begin to renovate the old, you’ll always have that feeling
of will this ever be for my own use, or am I doing this for someone
else. (Theo 04 45-48)
Theo mentioned that he feels very good that he knows about every little detail
in the house.