JWH Netherlands JournalVol.3　　　Why I Chose a House Built in 1848　— I Could See Its Future. —

JWH Netherlands Journal

Vol.3

Why I Chose a House Built in 1848

— I Could See Its Future. —

In February 2025, our property search in the Netherlands was finally coming to an end.

The Hague.

Leiden.

Rotterdam.

Schiedam.

Delft.

Over several days, I viewed dozens of properties, updated my Excel rankings, and carefully compared every option.

Eventually, one property remained.

Today, that is the home where my family lives.

My family fell in love with Delft before we found the house.

Back in June 2024, we visited the Netherlands as a family.

At that time, this house wasn't even on our list.

Yet one memory has stayed with me ever since.

As we walked through Delft, my family naturally said,

The canals.

The church.

The market square.

The historic streets.

Everything felt peaceful, beautiful, and alive.

Delft instantly became our favorite town.

Only later did we realize something incredible.

The place where we stayed during that trip was just a short walk from the house we would eventually buy.

At the time, it was just a coincidence.

Looking back, it almost feels like destiny.

I wasn't buying a building.

I was buying a lifestyle.

When I first saw this property, I wasn't looking at the walls.

I was looking at the atmosphere.

Every Thursday, a local market fills the square in front of the house.

Church bells echo through the town.

People enjoy coffee on outdoor terraces.

Tourists and locals naturally share the same streets.

I found myself thinking,

For me, Delft wasn't just another city.

It felt like a place full of positive energy.

The store wasn't a burden.

It was an opportunity.

The ground floor is a commercial space.

Many buyers might see that as a complication.

I saw possibilities.

It could generate rental income.

One day it could become a Japanese café.

Or a community space.

Or the future home of JWH.

In a location like Delft's historic Markt, a commercial unit has value far beyond today's tenant.

To me, it wasn't simply a shop.

It was a platform for future ideas.

Hidden Value

The previous owner was the church.

That told me something important.

The roof had been maintained.

The exterior had been cared for.

The structure was solid.

The problem wasn't the building.

It was the layout.

The upper floors had been converted into student housing.

The living room felt cramped.

It was difficult for buyers to imagine family life there.

Most people saw an awkward floor plan.

I saw one wall that could disappear.

One renovation.

One new perspective.

And suddenly,

a completely different home.

I wasn't looking at what the house was.

I was looking at what it could become.

It wasn't expensive.

It was misunderstood.

I wasn't evaluating only the asking price.

I was evaluating:

• The value of the location.

• The commercial space.

• The historic building.

• The future renovation.

• The lifestyle it could provide.

When I combined all of those together,

I reached one conclusion.

It perfectly represented the idea I wrote about in Vol.2:

Hidden Value.

We didn't buy a finished home.

We bought a future.

There was plenty of work to do.

DIY.

Renovation.

Planning.

But that was exactly what attracted us.

Instead of paying for someone else's finished vision,

we wanted to create our own.

That's why we didn't buy this property simply because it was built in 1848.

Or because it had a shop.

Or even because it was in Delft.

We bought it because

we could clearly see the future that others couldn't.

Looking Ahead

Finding the property was only the beginning.

Next came the negotiations.

The mortgage.

The legal paperwork.

The Dutch notary process.

And finally,

the day we received the keys.

In the next Journal,

I'll share what it's really like to buy a home in the Netherlands as a foreign family.

JWH Reflection

That is exactly what I continue searching for—

not only in Japan,

but now in the Netherlands as well.

Hidden Value.