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Humans of Wikkelhouse (1)
Who: Sjoske Buursink (42), photographer, and Wim de Koning (48), signmaker & -trainer, with their children Jesper (20) and Elin (15)
When: Bought their Wikkelhouse in 2022
Where: City center of Arnhem
What: Bedroom

‘Our Wikkelhouse is in the backyard for now, but in a perfect world, we’ll one day move it to Sweden, once the kids have left home. Just a little plot of land, a Wikkelhouse, maybe one or two extra segments… That’s the dream.

We live on the ground floor of a beautiful building in the heart of Arnhem. The kids used to sleep in our room, but of course, they grew up and started craving their own space.At some point we asked ourselves: do we move, or do we build? None of us wanted to leave. We absolutely love this house – it’s a stately 1850s townhouse with so much charm and character.

We leaned towards building an extension, but it didn’t sit right. It felt wrong to alter such a beautiful, historic home. Plus, the whole process with an architect takes ages, costs a lot, and you’re never sure if the end result will match your vision.

That’s when we thought: what about a Wikkelhouse? We’d seen the prototype back in 2019 at Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. We never forgot it. It was love at first sight. And luckily, it fit. With the idea of Sweden still lingering in the back of our minds, the decision was easy. We chose the Wikkelhouse.

Now she – yes, we think of it as a ‘she’– is our bedroom. She has a small pantry, a bathroom, and feels like a true extension of our home. In the summer, we spend a lot of time on the veranda, and our drinks stay nice and cold out there.”

We looked into other options—prefab tiny homes from Eastern Europe, for example—but they just didn’t feel right for us. They lacked warmth.
What really appealed to us about the Wikkelhouse was its sustainability. And the four-meter-high ceilings made it feel like a natural continuation of our own home. It’s spacious, but thanks to all the wood, also incredibly cozy.
When my sister-in-law visited for the first time, she said, ‘It feels like being back in the womb.’

“What we love most about the Wikkelhouse is its simplicity. No fuss, no frills—just clean lines, gentle curves, and beautiful craftsmanship. And of course, the fact that it’s locally produced and built with care really matters to us. 
It may have taken up our entire garden, but we honestly don’t mind. She deserves to be there.”

“Even after three years, it still feels like a holiday retreat. The atmosphere is completely different from the main house.

Sometimes, after lounging in the Wikkelhouse for a while, you walk back inside and suddenly remember the laundry, the dishes, all the to-dos.
But in the Wikkelhouse? You can forget all that. It’s still our little zen space.’