Amsterdam is the European city most famous for its collection of houseboats and this is where Arie and his wife Gerda live aboard their barge Apelonia Maria . She is a 75ft (27.2m) long traditional type of barge known as a Luxemotor and was built in Alphen aan de Rijn, the Netherlands, in 1913 to transport sand. Arie and Gerda bought her from a friend of theirs who had lived aboard for nine years previously and embarked on a complete rebuild to bring her up to the stunning condition you see here. The ship was stripped back to a bare hull and a new superstructure built. A much larger wooden cabin was constructed to replace the area where the skipper would originally have steered the ship, and this space now forms a large open plan kitchen and dining area. All the changes were designed by a marine architect to keep the new look sympathetic to her original hull shape. Apelonia Maria is now permanently moored with normal household services such as gas, water and electricity supplied directly from a shore connection. They have no plans to move around, so the engine was also removed to create extra space. Cooking and central heating are all powered by gas with an additional log-burning stove in the main living area for cold winters. Arie and Gerda have lived aboard for four years and chose a life afloat to enable them to live right in the centre of Amsterdam but still maintain a connection with nature thanks to the proximity of the water. Their mooring is also on a busy part of the canal system so there is always something to watch passing by the windows.