One boat, three countries, three owners, and one heck of a back story – that’s LifeStyle.

Years ago, this 2002 Lakeview houseboat boarded a freighter from Kentucky out to

Hamburg, Germany, to a man who tried to rent the boat to holiday visitors for sailing. To his own dismay, his business venture failed. But to the delight of neighbors, his loss was their gain.

For a year, Thomas and Ulla Larmann had been looking to abandon their land-living lifestyle and take to the sea – the only holdup was finding the perfect boat. All the houseboats sold in their European corner of the world were unsuited for their tastes; they were either old freighters converted into houseboats, which made it feel like “living in a submarine,” or they were too small to live comfortably in. But while looking online one day, they found it – the ad that changed their life. American-made, but already in Europe, the houseboat in this ad offered exactly what they were looking for: a place to call home. It didn’t remind them of a submarine, and it didn’t restrict their living space. It was the perfect boat.

 “And the size!!!” remarked Thomas. “Our boat is a Lakeview of 68 feet. This appears small in the U.S., but large in Europe.”