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Couple’s Sleepy Hollow Cottage Life


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While many people would be put off by the thought of living in a cottage near a Sleepy Hollow, NY cemetery, Lindsay and Jonas thought it was fate. The international couple (Swedish & American) were nearly homeless, trying to find a roof over their heads and a spot to put down roots.

When they moved it, they only had a few suitcases and no furniture. But after scouring flea markets and Facebook Marketplace every weekend, they furnished the lovely 500-ish square foot apartment with vintage gems that fit their cottage life style.

Jonas is an awesome artist, and he has paintings of their precious cottage for sale! They created an awesome Q&A/Tour video which you can watch below to learn all about them.

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Their 1920s Cottage by a Cemetery

The cottage looks lovely in all four seasons.

It’s part moody/spooky and part charming vintage.

There’s a kitchen, bathroom, one bedroom and one living room.

Jonas paints from the little desk.

They just celebrated 9 years of marriage, and about four of living in their cottage.

VIDEO: Living in a Vintage Cottage Beside a Cemetary

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Natalie C. McKee

Natalie C. McKee is a contributor for Tiny House Talk and the Tiny House Newsletter. She's a wife, and mama of three little kids. She and her family are homesteaders with sheep, goats, chickens, ducks and quail on their happy little acre.

Latest posts by Natalie C. McKee (see all)

{ 14 comments… add one }
  • Bryan O'Connor
    October 4, 2021, 11:56 am

    Absolutely LOVE this! Alot of People would be freaked out living next to a Grave Yard but my great grandparents lived next to a Grave Yard for 60 years. it’s not a big deal.

    • Natalie C. McKee
      October 4, 2021, 1:30 pm

      It’s funny how we make things scary that aren’t that scary. I don’t know that I could do it, but they love it!

    • October 4, 2021, 5:06 pm

      Charming house and young couple!!! Frankly, now at age 72, I am convinced it is far better to live next to a large semi-wild cemetery than to live in a crowded neighborhood of houses jammed close to each other. Many people complain that to live near a cemetery is totally unacceptable because it is to them “a continual frightful physic reminder of death.” Oh yeah? Well, hello? Do I have news for those people …….. each of us is going to die one day, and to be gently reminded of that is, in my view, a good thing because that reminder may well cause us to temper our daily actions to be more accommodating to each other and the natural environment. (I am a broad-minded Christian. I do not W A N T to die, but neither do I anxiously F E A R death. It is a natural part of life.) Besides, to live next to a quiet, naturally green cemetery is far better than living next to a complaining, ill-tempered, grumpy neighbor. Or next to neighbors that are oblivious to the concerns of others by playing excessively loud music, leaving their yards covered in rubbish and/or unsightly possessions, and — in my view — parking their monstrously large campers and travel vans in their driveways where I have to look at them. The dead can be far easier to deal with than some modern Americans I know. These comments are respectfully submitted. Stephan of Arkansas, USA

      • James D.
        October 4, 2021, 6:33 pm

        Well, it probably helps that not everything is as obvious as a cemetery and most aren’t aware what’s below them or the full history of where they live… Lots of things have just been lost to history and aren’t still around for all to look at like the catacombs of Lima, Peru or Paris, France… Nor is everything still in its original location or designated/marked, especially these days with a world wide issue of basically running out of places to put them and the growing controversy of how it’s being dealt with…

        Along with other aspects of history like entire civilizations and cities beneath modern ones… Like Seattle Underground is an example you can visit in the states… and every now and then a construction development runs into something, unexpected, we just usually don’t hear about it unless it’s something really historically significant or controversial…

      • Sherry
        October 4, 2021, 6:42 pm

        Stephan: What a wonderful comment and such great insight in life and that graveyard. I just love how you think as I totally agree with you. Life is way to darn short for anyone to be mean, cruel and ugly…..it takes lots of strength to raise above the ugly of this world yet some do it every day and move on.

  • Ginnie Kozak
    October 5, 2021, 12:50 am

    One of the reasons that people learned not to want to live next to or near cemeteries is very practical–the spread and transmission of diseases into the soil and to nearby creeks, rivers, swamps, etc. before modern sanitary sewers and treatment plants. Even one or more of the famous literary Bronte sisters were victims of typhoid that spread from the cemetery of their father’s church.

    • James D.
      October 5, 2021, 4:17 am

      Well, that was speculation, as they didn’t know for sure. The official cause of death was tuberculosis and may have had more to do with just poor sanitation, which was a common problem, regardless of where the cemetery was located, at the time.

      While that example was also long before embalming and cremation became widely practiced… There was also a lot more physical contact with the departed back then. Like in London, graveyards were so crammed with corpses that grave diggers were frequently obliged to hack through old and not-so-old coffins in order to make space for new ones. Mind, there was no such thing as PPE’s back then… Among other differences from what we have now… Suffice to say there’s a lot less haphazard activity associated with cemeteries now to warrant concerns…

      Though, people used to believe cemeteries could release literally disease causing bad air, add superstitions, folklore, the sense of it being a forbidden holy ground as many back then were on church grounds, etc. drove a lot of fear based speculation on the safety of cemeteries…

      However, modern studies of the environmental impact of cemeteries show that overall there’s little evidence that they have much impact on groundwater. While methane and other gases released by decomposition, while not entirely benign, don’t cause disease, and the contamination they may leech into the soil doesn’t spread far… Local regulations typically forbid burials below the water table, specify minimum distances between wells and burial grounds, and so on to further limit the possibility of any risk…

  • Marsha Cowan
    October 5, 2021, 5:42 am

    What a cute couple! It’s nice how they appreciate the history and ambience of that little home. The decorating is perfect, and his art work is lovely. Much talent between them. Great home!

  • Francine Rico
    October 10, 2021, 4:08 pm

    This house reminds me so much of my grandparents house on Long Island, NY. It was tiny but my grandfather built so much charm into the house for my grandmother. He took out out an electric floor heater and put a trap door (My grandmother covered it with a rug) and stairs leading down to the basement so they wouldn’t have to go out in the cold or rain. They had the outdoor storm doors, as well, with the concrete floor and storage. My grandfather built a ‘fireplace’ out of 55 gallon drum for the winter and he also made and stored his wine down there. The entire back yard was their garden. I miss them and that house so very much. A TRUE cottage!

    • Stephan of Arkansas
      October 31, 2021, 10:43 pm

      Francine, your grandparents’ little cottage sounds like a jewel. And it was obviously full of happiness and love. And U know what I have learned in my 72 years of life — true love is stronger than death. True love never dies. These comments are respectfully submitted. Stephan of Arkansas

    • Bryan O'Connor
      November 1, 2021, 2:11 pm

      Your grandparents place sounds alot like my grandparents place. My grandpa built there house by tearing down a neighbors barn that had caught fire and grandpa convinced the guy to let him keep alot of the wood in order to build their house. In the late 40’s and they lived there until they passed away in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

  • LAR
    October 21, 2021, 9:15 am

    Is it necessary to bring politics into it? This is a site about tiny/small houses, not the Yahoo comments section.

  • e.a.f.
    October 26, 2021, 5:37 pm

    loved the house!

    As to living next to a grave yard, well the dead can’t hurt you, don’t throw wild parties, don’t set up meth labs. Living next to a grave yard also gives you lots of green space to look at. Usually homes have a better price also because many people don’t want to live next to a graveyard.

  • veerae
    October 29, 2021, 7:12 pm

    What a marvellous story! This, to me, embraces what is important — that this charming couple found a home! It wouldn’t bother me in the least to be next to a cemetery!! Truly enjoyed this couples’s journey!!

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