From the left: Ashlea, Ivet, Saoirse, Judith. Photo: Guy Ackermans. House: The Coffee Barrack
Residents: Judith Alkema, Ashlea Byrne, Maxwell Chesal, Ivet Andres Munoz, Karsten Pawellek and Saoirse Shannon.
UNIque because: they sell fair-trade products
Ashlea: ‘The Coffee Barack has been around since the 90s. We sell fair-trade coffee, tea, chocolate and wine from the cupboard in the hallway. The concept has always stayed more or less the same. Officially, we’re open between 10 am and 10 pm, but if someone knocks on the window – no one ever rings the bell – and we’re in the kitchen, we will open the door.’
Ivet: ‘We actually have a bell? I wouldn’t know what that sounds like.’
Saoirse: ‘The house really feels like one big family. We always eat together and are at home quite a lot. I think that’s always been the case in this house.’
Ashlea: ‘We are even going on a trip to South Africa together. I was planning to go home this winter, because I’m from there, and asked if anyone would like to come with me. Well, that escalated pretty quickly. Before I knew it, the whole house was on board.’
Ivet: ‘We are going to sublet the complete house for a month. The people who are going to live here will take care of Nina (the cat, ed.) and the chickens.’
Saoirse: ‘Once in a while we organize Droef Cafe. Then we transform the house into a cafe for the neighbours. The last time was around Halloween. We had made pumpkin pie, quiche, and of course lots of coffee and pumpkin spiced latte. A band was playing in the corner of the living room.’
Ivet: ‘It was their debut. It was absolutely packed, it was so crowded that people had to stand outside, even though it was really cold.’
Saoirse: ‘The money we earn from Droef Cafe always goes to a charity.’
Ashlea: ‘There haven’t been a lot of parties lately, but we did have a good Pride Party. We are not only known for the coffee, we are also the only house on Droevendaal where everyone’s queer.’
If you too want your UNIque house in Resource, send an email to resource@wur.nl
