Saturday morning. The wood stove is still warm from last night, your coffee is brewing, and through the French doors you can see sunlight filtering through the pines at the edge of your garden. No neighbors in your sightline. Just birdsong, the smell of damp earth after rain, and the low hum of absolute quiet. This is what weekends are supposed to feel like — and at Calluna Oost 76, this is just the default setting.
This fully renovated three-bedroom bungalow sits on a private 764 m² plot within Park Calluna, a small-scale recreational park that runs right up against the forests outside Ommen in the Dutch province of Overijssel. Small-scale matters here — this isn't a commercial holiday camp with communal pools and tannoy announcements. The park is low-key, well-kept, and genuinely quiet. Residents tend to be people who came for the trees and stayed for the peace.
The house itself has been renovated with real care. Not a cosmetic refresh — the roof, floors, and walls are all insulated, every room runs on electric heating, the glazing is double throughout, and the whole property is fully all-electric. The energy efficiency isn't just good for the planet; it means running costs stay manageable year-round, which matters when you're factoring in the economics of a second home. The property comes fully furnished, too. You could book a viewing on a Friday and be drinking wine on that south-facing terrace by Saturday evening.
Step inside and the layout makes immediate sense. The hallway opens cleanly into a living room that earns its place as the heart of the house — largely because of the soapstone wood stove anchoring one wall. Soapstone retains heat for hours after the fire dies down, which means on a cold October evening in the Overijssel countryside, the room stays warm long after you've stopped feeding it wood. French doors push open directly onto the terrace and garden, so on warmer days the boundary between inside and outside essentially disappears. Large windows on the garden side mean the room is flooded with natural light from the south — real light, the kind that changes mood and color as the afternoon moves.
The kitchen is modern and functional — induction hob, extractor hood, a layout that doesn't make you feel like you're cooking in a corridor. On the ground floor there's also a bedroom that works well for guests or anyone who prefers not to do stairs, plus a bathroom with both a bathtub and a separate shower, a washbasin unit, and a separate toilet. Upstairs, two more bedrooms. One opens onto a private balcony — a genuinely lovely detail, especially in summer when the forest canopy is full and the evenings stretch until ten o'clock. That room also has air conditioning for the warmest weeks of July and August. The second upstairs room works as a twin, a home office, or whatever your particular situation calls for.
Outside, the 764 m² plot feels generous because it is. Mature trees ring the perimeter, giving you shade in summer and a natural privacy screen year-round. There's a terrace for eating outside, a shed for bikes and tools, and a carport with a dedicated parking space on your own plot. The garden faces south, which in the Netherlands is worth mentioning — you'll get sun from mid-morning through to evening during the long summer days.
Now, Ommen itself. The town sits on the Vecht river, one of those slow, wide Dutch rivers that cyclists follow for miles on flat riverside paths. The Saturday market on the Marktplein fills up with local produce — Overijssel cheeses, fresh bread, seasonal vegetables. Restaurants like De Librije's more casual regional counterparts have made the area a quiet draw for food-conscious visitors, and there are several good spots along the Vecht for a beer or an early dinner. In winter, the surrounding heathlands take on a completely different character — low mist, frost on the bracken, almost no other people on the trails. In spring, the Sallandse Heuvelrug National Park, about twenty minutes south by car, is covered in flowering heather that locals drive from across the country to see. You'll be living next to it.
For cycling specifically, the Overijssel fietsroutenetwerk — the regional cycling network — connects directly to trails through the forests around Ommen. You can ride for three or four hours without touching a main road. The Vecht itself has a dedicated long-distance cycle route following it north toward Hardenberg and south toward Dalfsen. In summer, canoes and kayaks appear on the river. In winter, the same trails that cyclists use become hiking routes through silent, frost-hardened forest.
Accessibility is better than the rural setting suggests. Ommen is roughly 140 km from Amsterdam Schiphol — about an hour and forty minutes by car, or reachable by train with a change in Zwolle, which sits on a major intercity line. Zwolle is only 35 km away and has direct trains to Amsterdam, Utrecht, and Groningen. For buyers coming from Germany, the border is less than 80 km east. This makes Park Calluna a realistic option not just for Dutch weekenders but for German and Belgian buyers looking for a quiet Dutch forest retreat within easy driving distance.
A word on the practical side for international purchasers. Recreational properties in the Netherlands — those on parks where permanent residence isn't permitted — sit in a specific legal category. They can be owned outright by non-residents with no restrictions, and many international buyers hold them through straightforward private ownership. Annual park fees here run around €575, which covers waste removal and park maintenance. Rental income is possible when you're not using the property yourself, and Ommen's growing profile as a nature and cycling destination means demand for short-term holiday lets in the area has strengthened noticeably over the past few years.
At €289,000, fully furnished and move-in ready, this is a well-priced entry into the Dutch recreational property market — particularly given the plot size, the quality of the renovation, and the direct forest access.
Key features at a glance:
- Three-bedroom detached bungalow on Park Calluna, Ommen
- Private south-facing plot of 764 m²
- Fully renovated with insulated roof, floors, and walls
- All-electric heating throughout, double glazing, energy-efficient
- Soapstone wood stove in the living room
- French doors from living room to terrace and garden
- Modern kitchen with induction hob
- Bathroom with both bathtub and separate shower
- Upstairs bedroom with private balcony and air conditioning
- Fully furnished and ready to use immediately
- Private carport and parking on plot
- Storage shed for bikes and garden equipment
- Direct access to forest trails and cycling routes
- Annual park contribution approximately €575 (includes waste disposal)
- 35 km from Zwolle, 140 km from Amsterdam Schiphol
If you've been considering a second home in the Netherlands — somewhere genuinely in nature rather than near it, with the infrastructure to actually enjoy it rather than just look at it from a distance — this property on Calluna Oost is worth a serious look. Get in touch through Homestra to arrange a viewing. Go on a grey day if you can; when it still feels right on a grey day, you know it's the real thing.
