I am in the mood for showing off some floating homes so I did some research using google images and came across this one floating on a river in Amsterdam. I’ve never been to Amsterdam, but judging by this photograph taken by Victor Sounds, it looks like it would be a fun place to explore. You can view more of Victor’s photos at his flickr account.
This looks like a charming little residence and I would enjoy taking in the city life from this home. How about you?
this houseboat is on a canal, not a river. A large part of the coastal area is below sea level. The Dutch were one of the first to reclaim land from the sea. The Dutch are residents of Holland or as it is also known the Netherlands.
No, come on, that’s a river. Plenty of rivers are perfectly straight, uniformly wide, and run right through major cities without having any flow to them.
There are more canals than rivers in Amsterdam but the Amstel River as well as the IJ River do go through the city. It can be hard to tell rivers from canals in a lot of European cities since they usually all have walled banks.
Interesting, but, in searching for the definition of canal, most seem to include passages such as: “…artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation…” or “…a river artificially improved by locks, levees, etc. to permit navigation.”
I guess I figured when you restrict the ability of a river to determine its own course, you’ve taken away its status as a river and turned it into a canal. The rivers running through the city must have a steady flow to them though, right? Does that cause any difficulties, do you know? It must certainly be different than it is around here with the constantly changing river levels and speed of the river.
The water in the canals is supplied by the rivers and nearby lake, some info at http://www.amsterdam.info/canals/ especially the last part about clean water. I think of the original stream bed as the river, no matter what was done to the banks, and artificially dug watercourses as canals, including sections of a river that have been diverted. Apparently not necessarily the official definition though. Canals usually connect rivers to enhance navigation and can often have locks and other systems to control the water flow.
a canal system works using a system of locks which allow boats to navigate to different levels, The water is stationary and only moves when a lock is emptied to allow a boat to pass to either a higher or lower level. The banks of rivers in cities are like that to prevent erosian.
a river without any flow is a river ? I suggest you made a typo
This canal house in Amsterdam ,Holland . Has a drawback it has a very low roof height so it can fit under the Bridges that go over the canals . I as a 6’3″ Dutch American would have a very hard time standing up in it . But the design is very nice .
Definitely, but it would have to be Amsterdam. I’d make sure I had a little bicycle from which to tour it!
very coo, I think I would want to be able to use the roof too as a place to hang out on a nice day.
Last night’s episode of House Hunter’s International featured a couple shopping for a houseboat in Amsterdam. That grey one is a style that’s known as an ark and it’s a bit more like a traditional home that the boat style homes. Like William said, the ceiling heights are really low AND these things cost $500,000 and up – U.S. Dollars!! That’s probably $500 a square foot.
Just out of curiousity I looked up a canal boat/narrow boat site and found many for much less than 500,000, luckily!
http://narrowboats.apolloduck.co.uk/
In addition to the cost of the houseboat, you also have to pay for the place to park it. In many Dutch cities, this runs 200k euro and up! But the city does provide water, light, sewage, etc…
I absolutly love floating homes, I would live on one in a heart beat if I could.
I think the idea of turning the low roof into useable space is great! Possibly a deck area with railinigs that fold down so it can still fit under the bridges?
During a 107 mile kayak trip on the Apalachicola River in NW Florida, I came across many ‘float houses’ similar to the one pictured on the attached website: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cMmgR9NIZ0A/TFTOp0QNg1I/AAAAAAAAAHo/iRZS1vR6q0c/s1600/Float+House2.jpg. A few of these homes are year-round residences, but most are ‘camps’ allowing for a very primitive get away in the midst of alligators, black bears, wild hogs, panthers, snakes and, of course, mosquitoes! Lots of mosquitoes! Otherwise, beautiful country, with views of the world’s brightest stars and surprises around each bend.
Living in the Portland Oregon area there are many floating homes around. From fishing shacks to major architectural designs. Thanks for your post.
Peeps are SO funny. I come to look at a floating tiny home to find out more about it and 7 of 17 comments are about canals/v/rivers.
Intellectual autism? Oh! LOOK ! THERE’S A BRIDGE … AND A DUCK!
That should occupy you for a bit…. big grin…
Um, the Dutch have been living on the canals in boats and floating homes forever. They have it down to a fine art – they figured out long ago that the top/roof is a perfect place to spend a summer’s day, or party at night. Nothing new under the sun, at least not here anyway. You should see inside these places, amazing what you can do to save/double use space.
I am Dutch (from the Netherlands) and have lived in Amsterdam for 12 years. The water seen on the picture is a canal, made in the Golden Century. There is also a river, named the Amstel, and in that river you also find boats like these one (and others!).
everybody with an adress in Amsterdam, can park a boat in a canal. He/she pays about $ 150, a year. But is not allowed to live in the boat, however can sleep aboard 180 nights a year to repair and for maintenance.
Many backpackers and people without a house stay somethings uninvited.
I slept one winter in a wooden fishing boat (seascow), cold,….cold…cold.
Tive o prazer de visitar Amsterdam. Fiz o passeio de barco sobre os canais da cidade e fiquei encantada com os barcos residência ao longo do caminho. Eu moraria tranquilamente num desses!
Yes, that’s a woonark, and contrary to the post above, everybody with an address in Amsterdam cannot park a woonark (not a boat, but a house on a flat concrete platform that can be towed like a barge), or any other large boat on a canal. A rowboat or small motorboat, with permission. Boat moorings for woonarks are a much sought-after commodity, very expensive, and only permitted on some canals.
Yes, the woonarks themselves are extremely expensive too. They are for the most part luxury accommodation, with the exception of the occasional grey-area hippie site i.e. Zeeburg Island (where the woonarks and boats are technically illegal).
As for tiny houses in A’dam, just been told by the Gemeente (city hall), are a very definitive NO. No variance will be allowed to the building code whatsoever so you won’t be putting it on the ground, and as in most European cities movable homes on land are not allowed unless on a specially permitted Roma site–and good luck with finding a place on one of those, even if you are Roma.
What we do have are tuinhuizen, which are sort of holiday chalets and do exist within the city limits, but you can only use yours for part of the year…