At home in a tent: how Piritta and Jelle built their own glamping cabin—“The absolute best place to sleep”
After having children, Piritta and Jelle began dreaming of a tent spot that they wouldn’t have to hike to reach. Now the family enjoys their leisure time in a camping hut.
There’s a surprise in the forest. Near the lake that emerges from behind a hill stands an impressive camping hut, surrounded by several campfire sites and a small tent sauna.
This place doesn’t belong to random campers but to the owners of the forest plot, Piritta and Jelle van der Beek. Both Piritta and Jelle, who moved to Finland from the Netherlands, were avid hikers even before they met. When the outdoors-loving couple had children, they started carrying their little ones in backpacks across the fells. There were some challenges along the way, however.
“It was a bit exhausting, carrying the kids plus backpacks, sleeping bags, food for four, and diapers for two children. And sometimes it rained.”
Piritta and Jelle realized that the most beautiful moments were always experienced upon arrival—at the tent and by the campfire, far from the crowds.
“We got it into our heads to buy our own forest plot. We didn’t want to walk endlessly anymore just to reach a nice spot.”
At first, Piritta and Jelle searched for a larger forest estate, no more than a couple of hours’ drive from Helsinki.
“Then it got completely out of hand. It had to be even closer, on the shore of a clean lake, and we needed there to be building rights on the plot so we could make a sauna there,” Piritta says with a laugh.
“We got it into our heads to buy our own forest plot. We didn’t want to walk endlessly anymore just to reach a nice spot.”
They bought the land from a forestry company in an area with hardly any cottages. It’s only a 350-meter walk from the road, yet the area is quiet. They have half a kilometer of their own shoreline.
“And around us are thousands of hectares of forest. The air is so clean there that my daughter can even skip her asthma medication.”
In the first summer, the van der Beeks set up their tent on the ground and built a tent sauna. In preparation for the following summers, Jelle and a helper built terraces under the tent and sauna, allowing them to bring in 20-centimeter-thick mattresses.
Now the family sleeps under thick duvets, on freshly pressed sheets. The space can be heated with a small tent stove, providing warmth well into autumn.
“There’s a lovely atmosphere there. After the children fall asleep, we can brew some tea,” Piritta says.
The interior of the camping hut is surprisingly stylish. Piritta loves Moroccan aesthetics, and the magnificent coffee table is her own creation.
“I made it under my husband’s guidance using a circular saw and learned to cut tiles. The surface is made from leftover tiles.”
For three summers, the van der Beeks have spent more nights in their tent than at home. The children even started referring to it as home at one point.
“The daycare asked if everything was okay since the kids had told them we live in a tent! They even started to look like trolls once after we’d spent two weeks at the tent.”
The family bathes in the tent sauna. They carry water from the nearby lake in a bucket and heat it on the stove. Jelle, being a professional woodworker, built the sauna and outhouse from the wood left over from thinning the plot.
When evenings began to get dark in the first year living in the tent, the children were afraid of the dark. Now they go to the outhouse with a headlamp, walking alone in the dark without fear.
“I think it’s important that the kids learn to navigate the forest, recognize berries, and get to build all sorts of things.”
Meals have to be planned so that refrigeration isn’t needed.
Cooking comes easily to the experienced campers, either over the campfire or with a propane stove. They’ve built a couple of different outdoor kitchens near the tent and campfire sites. Piritta has also written two books with tips for cooking in camping conditions. Meals have to be planned so that refrigeration isn’t needed.
“It’s easier to cook there than on a hike. Our friends have wondered at our persistence. Washing dishes outside in cold weather requires thick rubber gloves. And it’s been quite something at times: on time my husband grilled lamb chops over the campfire in the dark and cold on Christmas.”
The camping hut on their own peaceful forest lot has become dear to the whole family.
This year, a lot has changed in the van der Beeks’ lives: both have changed jobs, and the family has moved to Halikko. They’ve also rented out their “glamping area” and started building a second camping hut nearby for themselves.
Piritta would happily buy more forest for camping if they could afford it.
“I don’t like clear-cut areas and don’t support them. It would be great to see the principles of continuous cover forestry being applied more and the size of individual clearings reduced. I support sustainable forestry. When wood is used to make furniture and log buildings, it also sequesters carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.”
In the Netherlands, it’s rare for a private individual to own forest. That’s why Piritta’s spouse, Jelle van der Beek, is proud of their own forest plot. He also thinks sleeping in a tent is amazing.
“You sleep like you’re in a hotel! It’s absolutely the best place to sleep. The air is fresh, and you can only hear the crackling of the stove or the birds singing.”
As a professional woodworker, Jelle finds it fascinating that he can also make something from their own trees on the plot. He is still dreaming of many new building projects.
Piritta, on the other hand, originally dreamed of owning a forest estate so she could build an earth oven there.
“And I still haven’t made it! My other wish was a treehouse. And we haven’t built a dock either. My wish list is very long,” she says with a smile.
