4 ms·

I've been in 200+ year old structures in the Netherlands that are nicer than the majority of houses I've been to in NA.

• ajmurmann 4y ago
  How high-end and affordable were these buildings when they got constructed? I remodeled a ~300 year olds house in rural Germany. The building used to house at least two families till the first half of the 20th century. We had to in essence redo everything except for maybe 70% of the oak beams, totally change the layout, dig up and lower the floors to accommodate anyone but tiny people and build out the attic to make the building attractive at all. This building was at the equivalent of the village square when it was constructed. Had the village grown and turned into Al even a town, I'd hoped it would have been replaced a long time ago. I'm proud I got to take part in this work and will in all likelihood own it myself some day. If it wasn't a under heritage protection we'd likely not have preserved it though because it makes little economic sense.
• robswc 4y ago
  What sort of structures? And how are you deciding "nice" ? I do believe you, its just when I think of a nice structure to live in, good HVAC is a must and lots of place in Europe simply don't have AC... can't speak as to why that's the case but its one of those things you take for granted lol
  • bowsamic 4y ago
    Europeans do not consider AC a must. I live in an attic conversion on a very well to do street in Germany, and there is not a single AC unit in sight. It's not common at all, we do not care about it. We would rather get extremely hot and sweaty for a few days a year than make the investment for AC
    • robswc 4y ago
      Haha nice, respectable, you're crazy for that though! Perhaps its the climate too though. There's a cottage I stay at sometimes and it's so old, has no AC and practically suicidal when there's humidity.
      • bowsamic 4y ago
        Not crazy, we just aren’t so bothered by the heat. Restaurants in countries with AC are also insanely cold. Actually here in Europe we think Americans are crazy for wanting to be so cold all the time lol
        • astrange 4y ago
          That must be why the software industry isn’t developed there, there’s nothing to cool down your brains from all the thinking. Japanese houses tend to have not good enough wall-mounted AC but the commercial buildings have it on freezing.
          • bowsamic 4y ago
            What makes you say that the software industry isn't developed in Europe?
            • astrange 4y ago
              Lack of ways for startups to grow outside selling to Americans (Booking, Skype, etc) and low quality of video games outside German farming simulators and British funny animal platformers.
        • robswc 4y ago
          Fair. I think it just comes down to preference. Not sure if you can say one is better than the other. I had always just assumed everywhere had AC. Oddly enough, seemed like lots of buildings had it while the houses/apartments didn't. Maybe due to the body heat of so many ppl, it becomes necessary.
    • bluGill 4y ago
      The US is a lot farther south than most people think. People talk about Minneapolis as a cold northern place, but it is south of Paris which nobody thinks of as particularly cold. I don't know where in Germany you were but odds are it was north by enough to not get the extreme heat that "southern" cities like Minneapolis get in summer. Most of western Europe is blessed with a mild winter climate. Some heat is needed, but not nearly as much as parts of the US that are much farther south. (If you get to Eastern Europe things are very different)
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