Our houseboat has a long history, and there are many gaps in that history that we are not aware of. The other day when we were in the office here in our marina, we got an old photo of the staff on our houseboat. Great! Of course, it brought back a lot of memories, so here's a little picture cavalcade ...
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A photo from the past
The photo at the top of the post was given to us by the staff at Pampas marina this week. It shows our houseboat lying in Pampas marina, but long before we bought it. The boat is a different colour than when we first saw it, and it's in a completely different place in the marina. Imagine how much our boat must have been through before we got to know it!
Early history of the houseboat - a passenger sloop
We don't know much about the early history of the houseboat. We were initially told that it is from the 1930s, but if we compare the hull with photos of other old hulls, it looks like it is even older. We have also been told that it originally served as a passenger sloop somewhere in Stockholm.
After this, there is a long white spot in history until the 1990s, when the boat was a houseboat in Navi's harbour on Djurgården. When they no longer wanted houseboats, the female owner moved the boat to Pampas marina in Solna and sold it.
Pampas marina
So our houseboat has been in the Pampas marina since the late 1990s. In the beginning, it was grey (as in the top picture in the post) and was much closer to the shore, and with the short side facing the dock. Two different owners lived here before we moved in. When we bought it in the summer of 2013, it was yellow and located in the same place where it is now.
Houseboat purchases in 2013
When we bought the houseboat, it was charming but in dire need of renovation. We almost always had water in the hull, the sewage pump broke at regular intervals and the wind blew right in between the planks in the top room. Still, it actually worked to live here over the winter!
The whole first year we lived in the houseboat without lifting it on land, but we were constantly working on renovation. We rebuilt the entire boiler room, put a new floor on the lower deck, changed the windows on the lower deck and in the kitchen, and started repainting.
Rebuild 2014
Just in time for summer 2014, we got the building permit and lifted the boat on land to rebuild it. We sanded and repainted the hull, changed all the panelling, demolished the whole upstairs and built a new one, put in new windows and doors, added a new roof... Well, tell me what we didn't change or rebuild!
The houseboat today
Rebuilding the houseboat was both a hard job ... and difficult! But it turned out well in the end and we enjoy our houseboat very much. Sometimes we wonder what the boat has been through all those years that we know nothing about ... it would be nice if it could tell us! Now we look forward to warm spring days when we can sit on the deck!
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Lisa says:
Wow what work you put in and how nice and cosy it has become. Surely you sometimes wonder what your home has been through if you are in an older place or like you in a boat from the early 1900s. What trips it has made and what passengers it has had, etc. We ourselves live in an old croft from the 1830s that would certainly have a lot to tell if the walls could talk. Now we can only fantasise about what happened and how people lived then. Hope you can soon sit and enjoy on deck.
28 March 2019 - 6:46
Helena says:
How cosy it sounds with a croft from the 1830s! Do you know anything at all about the previous owners? There must be lots of history in the walls!
29 March 2019 - 6:31
Deciree says:
It is very nice your houseboat? We have been to visit you and it was very nice. There is a huge difference between before and now?
28 March 2019 - 6:47
Gilla says:
Our house in Croatia is built around 1700
I usually think it would be cool if you could see all the people who lived here come out. There are probably very many because the house is large by Croatian standards and several generations probably lived here at the same time. We also know that they had goats on the ground floor and later they produced wine?
28 March 2019 - 14:20
Helena says:
Like, oh how exciting with a house from the 18th century! Such a long time and also a large house. Exciting! Glad you got to know a little in any case! 🙂
29 March 2019 - 6:33
Helena says:
Dessan, so nice to have a visit from you in the boat! Have fun!
29 March 2019 - 6:31
Emma, Sol som sol? says:
I giggled a bit when it says "...and with the short side facing the jetty." That means you don't think of it as a boat but as a house. Otherwise you would have written "... and with the stern towards the dock." I think.
And then I think further ... Is there no boat register like there are property and vehicle registers? That you can - if you want - get hold of previous owners and fill in the big white spot?
Once again, I realise how clueless I am about time. So you have lived there for six years this year. I thought it was longer.
Great post, it's so fun with before and after, then and now, to compare. People always say that you should not compare which I have never understood. I compare things all the time - so does everyone else - but that doesn't mean that you devalue or exalt. You just register the differences. Oh, now I've gone off the rails. Again.
28 March 2019 - 8:30
Berit says:
How nice it was your cosy houseboat. The name is so appropriate to the type of accommodation. Imagine if walls could talk, it would be very interesting. We would probably get to know many joyful and positive events but certainly some sorrows as well.
My house is a semi-detached cottage from the 18th century. The upper floor was built sometime in the 19th century. So the house probably has a lot of history to tell!
28 March 2019 - 8:31
Helena says:
Interesting to live in such an old house! One would like the walls to be able to speak 🙂 Do you know anything about those who lived in the house before?
29 March 2019 - 6:35
Berit says:
A stove maker lived here, but unfortunately there are no stoves left. I also know some older ladies who have lived here. And a couple of families who lived here before me.
But my plan is to "house research" to find more people who lived and lived in the house before 🙂 .
29 March 2019 - 15:44
Britt-Marie Lundgren says:
Old buildings are exciting and your boat probably has a great history. In any case, you've really made it a very cosy accommodation, well suited to your lifestyle, in the middle of nature, while being close to the big city. Perfect@
28 March 2019 - 9:48
Helena says:
Yes, to have both nature close and also close to the city, we think it's perfect! 🙂
29 March 2019 - 6:36
Ama de casa says:
A lot of work, but you've really got it down to a tee!
28 March 2019 - 11:03
Helena says:
We really like it here now! 🙂
29 March 2019 - 6:36
Ruth i Virginia says:
I think it was during the modernisation, that I found
Freedomtravel. Thought you were a bit odd, putting down the
so much infernal work on an old boat.
BUT - it gave great results. 🙂
28 March 2019 - 13:49
Helena says:
Haha, yes, we were a bit strange 😉 But now we really enjoy our home! 🙂
29 March 2019 - 6:37
Solan says:
You have the ultimate accommodation...
a lovely boat and a motorhome nearby! ?
28 March 2019 - 14:23
Helena says:
Houseboat and motorhome are a great combo 🙂 .
29 March 2019 - 6:38
Lena - gott för själen says:
Wow, how hard you worked. And it turned out so well! Some difference in the appearance of the boat 🙂 Right as it is, there are probably several stories about the boat.
Hug Lena
28 March 2019 - 18:52
Helena says:
The owner who moved the boat from Djurgården to here actually contacted me on Facebook, so it can happen! 🙂
29 March 2019 - 6:39
BP says:
Must have been on this blog for a while, as I remember very well how you struggled with the boat and spent all your free time renovating and rebuilding Freedom. You succeeded fantastically well. It is a completely different houseboat now compared to then. Well done!
28 March 2019 - 19:14
Helena says:
Yes now it is more of a modern accommodation! 🙂
29 March 2019 - 6:40
Rolle o Carina says:
What a difference in the boat, you have done a great job!
Take care and enjoy it further...
28 March 2019 - 22:24
Helena says:
Thank you very much! And take care!
29 March 2019 - 6:40
JoY says:
You have really done a great job, (even though I have not been to your place) it was fun to follow it.
29 March 2019 - 10:05
Emma, Sol som sol? says:
Mäh! I wrote a comment but it's apparently gone! Or has it ended up in the rubbish filter?
I remember writing something about before and after, that it is so much fun to see and have them. And about the short sides of a house and the stern of a boat ...
Then I can't remember more. Well, isn't there a boat register, where you can see previous owners like there are for cars and properties?
29 March 2019 - 12:30
Znogge says:
What a job, but the result was also fantastic!
29 March 2019 - 15:15
Maria / Magnolia Magis says:
What a beautiful home! It turned out really well when you had to redo it!
29 March 2019 - 15:44
Daniela | Discovering The Planet says:
Soooo heavenly nice. Looking forward to a blog trip to the Pampas 😉 🙂 🙂 .
30 March 2019 - 23:23