Tineke Tichelaar believes the old train station she now calls home could be the most photographed building in North Friesland. Situated a stone’s throw from the Wadden Sea, in a village called Tzummarum, it was built in 1902 as part of a plan to connect the villages with a railway line, however the initiative didn’t last long. As early as 1925, passengers made way for potatoes, and in 1961 the trains disappeared from the track completely. The platform is where Tineke and her partner, Rick, now sit to enjoy the evening sun.
In 2015, while searching online for an unconventional house outside the city, Tineke came across the former station, which was listed as a commercial building with residential use. ‘We walked in and fell in love, and within a week it was ours,’ she remembers. The building had been restored in 2003, and retained its original features. ‘We immediately loved those authentic details, such as the original doors and window frames, the wooden panelling, the high plank ceilings, and the fireplaces,’ says Tineke. ‘Although the building was empty, it had a lot of atmosphere.’
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And plenty of space, too. In addition to the kitchen and the room where the station master once lived – now used as a dining room – there is a spacious entrance with a worn, natural stone floor; the office with its wooden ticket counter; the second- and third-class waiting room, now a studio and living room; and as a bonus, a large attic. ‘It’s very big,’ Tineke says. ‘At first we couldn’t believe we had to walk such a long way to the kitchen to get coffee! But having all that space is wonderful. There are only two of us, but we make the most of each and every room.’
Due to its historic status, no structural changes are allowed to the building, so the layout has remained untouched. Tineke and Rick have made some necessary improvements, though, replacing the simple pantry with an up-to-date kitchen and creating a beautiful bedroom and bathroom in the attic. They also replaced the carpet with comfortable linoleum throughout.
Tineke loves colour, recalling how, as a child, she wanted her duvet cover to match the wall colour. And so, when she inherited a rather bold colour palette in her new home, including shades of mustard green, terracotta pink, royal blue and turquoise, it didn’t faze her. ‘The only thing that surprised me was that we are not allowed to change the colours, but so far I haven’t wanted to,’ she says. That could be because they form a perfect backdrop for another great love of hers: vintage design from the 1950s to the 1970s, which Tineke describes as ‘simple, stylised and elegant.’
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The interior is filled with vintage furniture, accessories and lighting – ‘luckily I had to buy a lot of lamps for this house!’ – and beautiful vintage collections including Regout’s pastel-coloured tableware, which ignited her love of vintage at the age of just 19. Contemporary design brands such as Hay, Petite Friture and Ikea are also included in the mix, because for Tineke, ‘the name doesn’t mean anything; it’s purely about the design. An anonymous egg cup can be beautiful.’
It’s clear that Tineke takes pleasure in the uniqueness of her home, the abundance of space and light, and filling it with her decades’ worth of collections. But she says she enjoys it most from a distance, when driving home or coming back from walking the dog. ‘This station wasn’t fancy; it didn’t even have a first-class waiting room. But in photos from the past you see rich ladies with big hats and beautiful dresses. Train travel was something for the upper classes, and the building still exudes that grandeur. Then I look and I think: how wonderful, and I live there!’
trijnsieraden.nl / @trijnsieraden
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