The simplicity of living in an apartment was tempting
“At the start, it felt a bit strange to live so close to people,” remembers Brita Sønsterud Helsem (66), looking out of the window across the apartment blocks in Nordbyhagen in Vestby.
More than seven years have passed since she and her partner Morten Riiser (64) took the plunge and moved from a terraced house in Son to a newly built apartment in the centre of Vestby. They have long become accustomed to having neighbours on all sides, and do not hide the fact that it was the simplicity of living in an apartment that made them leave their house.
"Life has its different phases. We started to flag a bit, and it’s not a bad thing that life gets easier," says Morten.
“Just being able to drive the car into the basement car park and not have to worry about shovelling snow and scraping ice the next morning - that’s so nice,” Brita says.
Thrives in the centre
While Morten is from the town of Hølen in Vestby municipality and has lived in the municipality all his life, Brita is originally from Nordstrand in Oslo. Since finding her way to Vestby in 1983, she has never looked back. She has lived in both Pepperstad and Son for some periods, but when the couple decided to move from house to apartment, Vestby town centre was the solution.
"Here, we have grocery stores, Vestby Storsenter, cafés and the train station a short walk away. This makes everyday life very flexible," Brita says.
Both she and Morten think it is entirely positive that Vestby is now expanding. One of the largest projects under construction is Wessel Park - where over 100 new apartments will be built in the centre of the town during 2021.
"It’s great that there are some changes in the centre, which has looked almost the same for many years. I imagine that when more people move here, this will bring a greater range of cafés, restaurants and other social venues," Brita says.
Followed the construction process
When Brita and Morten decided to leave the terraced house in Son, the apartment we’re sitting in now was just a floor plan.
Brita was raised up in a hoist to visualise what it would be like on the second floor of the apartment complex in Nordbyhagen. The feeling she got was that this would be a really nice place to live.
“We have several acquaintances who talked about replacing their house with an apartment, and I think good advice is to be a bit ahead of the curve,” says Brita.
"If you take action before the need to move suddenly arises, you have the opportunity to be involved in the actual construction process and adapt the apartment to your own wishes and needs."
Room for more
While waiting for the apartment to be completed, Brita and Morten were excited about what their new life would look like. Would they miss the garden? Would it feel less spacious? And would it be sad to have to get rid of furniture and things that wouldn't fit in the 70 square metres of space?
“It turned out to go surprisingly well,” says Brita.
"I felt absolutely at home here right away, and we quickly noticed that we had the space we needed."
The apartment was ready for occupation just before Christmas 2012, and Christmas Eve was celebrated in their new hood with all the children and grandchildren in place.
"Thanks to the open kitchen solution, we can pull out the dining table. So here we have room for both family parties and quiz nights with friends," says Morten.
The couple do think about the garden from time to time.
"When the grandchildren are visiting, it would be convenient to just let them out into the garden. But on the other hand, it’s great that we have to get dressed and go out with them too - because then we have more time together," Brita reflects.
Have more time to do things they like
Despite sometimes missing a garden: The advantages of living in an apartment far exceed the drawbacks, Brita and Morten believe.
"It’s never cold here, for example. It’s nice and warm all the time when you live like this, with apartments both above and below. The fact that hot water, cable TV and things like that are included in our communal expenses means that we live affordably," Brita explains.
“If something doesn't work as it should in the building here, it’s practical that we can just call the caretaker,” Morten adds.
When asked what they think is the best thing about living in an apartment instead of a house, the couple are very clear:
"There’s much less to do.
We don't have to shovel snow, mow the lawn and paint the outdoor woodwork, and can spend that time doing things we like. Whether we want to go out on a boat trip, take a weekend trip in the motorhome, go on a motorcycle tour or visit the cabin we have at our disposal, we just lock the door and go," explains Morten.
“No, we’ve never regretted moving to this apartment for a second,” Brita says.
"We will stay here until we are carried out - and then the retirement home in Son is next."