5 reasons to own a castle

I’m screaming it from every rooftop: I WANT TO BUY A CASTLE. Or just a big building that looks like a castle. No but honestly, I really do! And I have been wanting to buy one since I was a child. But children grow up and get new, more achievable dreams, right? Yes, and I made my dream of owning a castle also more realistic. It hasn’t disappeared though. So today I want to share with you my 5 reasons to own a castle. 

Summers

In The Netherlands every school going child gets 6 weeks of summer vacation. May look a lot but compared to other European countries, this is not that much. My parents would take out 4 weeks of their PTO so we could go camping. We started with a tent, moved on to a camper and now they still own their caravan. Although we’ve been to Croatia for 3 summers, we normally went to southern France. They literally brought us to a region where the sun was shining. If it was too cold, we packed up and moved to a brighter place.

I remember a field full of lavender. Long warm nights in which we were dining until eternity. Spending nights at terraces filled with happy people listening to live bands. We were happy and I always thought these were the best nights of the year. Summers like that I honestly never spend in The Netherlands. You just cannot plan the weather there. And if it’s nice weather, I somehow always get stuck with a busy season at the office. 

We always visited castles and palaces during our vacation. Somehow the idea of owning a castle and spending the warm summer nights outside dining felt like the ultimate dream. This might therefore be one of the biggest reasons to own a castle: the warm summer nights. Even as a child I remember myself painting the big villa’s from Provence in the hopes of owning one, one day. 

Countryside love

I grew up in a small town in Friesland, a province in the Northern part of The Netherlands. It’s considered a rural province and we have speak in our own language with locals. Although I lived in a pretty big village, I got introduced to rural life quite often. Friends lived on farms and at age 6 I was already cycling to school myself. Yeah, towns are safe and bikers friendly. 

After I finished highschool I moved to one of the biggest cities of the Netherlands: Rotterdam. And also for my studies I’ve lived in Shanghai and Seoul; HUGE cities compared to where I come from. I’ve always thought that I was more of a city girl: getting coffees and having everything closeby. But then covid-19 hit. No garden, no place to go and definitely a city that was quite dormant. This made me discover another big reason to own a castle: having space and freedom. 

Cities are planned and always rushed. Growing up in the countryside, villages don’t feel rushed. I kinda miss that feeling of tranquility. That feeling that everyone is close and you take a bit more time to enjoy stuff. Although I don’t like the thought of having to drive further for exotic ingredients for my food adventures, I like the thought of connecting with the outside again. 

Room for guests

Remember those movies where the main character gets invited over to a country house with several guest rooms? Somehow my brain has adopted this as the ultimate goal in life. I want to have a house where I can proudly give guests plenty of space. I keep on saving fun games to play with friends on pinterest. Keep on trying fun cocktails to share. I just want to have a house full of fun. 

Downside now, is that a lot of friends live pretty nearby. Which means that they prefer to go home after a night of fun. Also, there’s not a real guest room for them to enjoy. I want to offer a separate bathroom and a bedroom that feels like a sanctuary with preps to enjoy. But where do you find this type of space in a city? 

Being able to have friends over at a house for a weekend full of fun is my ultimate dream. This might therefore be one of my main reasons to own a castle. If you would have a castle, would you be inviting your friends and family over to enjoy it together?

Gardening

I don’t have green fingers. I think. And my mom always thought it was a tedious task to uphold the garden. But the thought of having a flower and vegetable garden just sounds so romantic. I’m trying to be more conscious about what we eat at home: seasonal produce is preferred and I try to cut costs. Flowers and vegetables however get more and more expensive. 

I therefore would love to try to grow my own produce. How fun would it be to walk into your garden at the end of the day to pick up the freshest ingrediënts for your dish? I can imagine that growing vegetables takes some time and it’s better to start slowly so it doesn’t become overwhelming. But HOW FUN would it be? Everyday fresh flowers on the table? Reminds me of something: I should start learning about this r-i-g-h-t n-o-w. 

Work from home

I think I have ADHD. I’ve never got tested though. Why, you ask? I don’t like to sit still. I work better when I’m doing multiple things at once. I just don’t like to sit down behind a laptop. And that’s most likely my job right now. Although I like structure, I also like to be creative and have the space to do stuff on the timetable I want.

When I work from home, I can never seem to concentrate. There’s always more important stuff to do. Loading the dishwasher, putting clothes in the washing machine, cleaning out the sink you name it. But I would die for a job to work home. With my love to entertain guests, I think it’s perfect to earn a bit of money on the side by inviting paying guests over. Sounds like a good reason to own a castle right? 

Make owning a castle more easy

My dream of owning a castle is not one that just came at once. Over the years this dream kept growing. You also might have a dream to own a bigger house or even a castle. What are your reasons to own a castle? Knowing the core reasons of why you want to own a castle makes realizing your dream more attainable. 

Look at the following list of reasons:

• Having long summer nights
• Rural living
• Enough room for guests
• Gardening
• Work from home

Knowing the true reasons of my dream, a castle is not even required to accomplish my ultimate dream. A house that can offer all above mentioned wishes will also do. And to be honest, a house that can offer all these wishes, DOES feel like a dream castle, right? So tell me, what are your dreams in a house?