A family legacy lives on in the Mouw House

Most students who move into Dordt University’s residence halls or campus houses are stepping into something entirely new. The spaces are unfamiliar, without personal history or memory.

For Taya Gesink, that isn’t the case.

This year, Gesink is living in the Mouw House, a small residence currently home to upperclassmen. But long before it became student housing, it was a place she already knew by heart.

The house once belonged to her great-grandparents.

“I am a great-granddaughter—he is my dad’s grandpa,” Gesink explains. “I have so many memories in the Mouw house from when I was little.”

Those memories are vivid and specific. Visits to the house often included making dreamcatchers with her great-grandparents, Vern and Marie Mouw. The backyard held a horse stable and a familiar spot for annual family photos. Inside, every detail reflected intention and care.

“My grandma was particular about design—she had wallpaper that matched the curtains and even the outlets,” Gesink says.

There were jars of chocolate-covered raisins on the counter for visiting grandchildren. A formal living room—beautiful but off-limits—stood in contrast to the fireplace room, where the family gathered to talk, play games, and simply be together.

Today, that same house looks both familiar and new.

“When I walked in, I immediately knew it was the house,” Gesink says. “I didn’t even need a tour because I had been there so many times growing up.”

The recognition was instant—but the experience is entirely different.

Now, Gesink shares the home with roommates. The fireplace room is now used mostly for storage. The formal living room—once off-limits—has become a place where she can sit and watch TV.

“It still feels weird,” she admits.

Even so, the house remains deeply connected to its past.

Gesink describes it as “the kind of place people would drive by and admire”—a home that once held a certain prominence in the community. Its open spaces, detailed design, and unique features still reflect the care her grandparents poured into it, especially in the kitchen.

Living there has brought more than nostalgia; it has created new opportunities to reconnect with family history.

Throughout the year, Gesink’s parents, siblings, and extended family have visited the home. Each visit has sparked conversations and memories, often centered on the small, intentional details that defined the house.

“My mom even said it felt strange putting things in new places because she remembered exactly where my grandma used to keep everything,” Gesink says.

Those moments have deepened her appreciation for both the house and the people who once filled it.

“It’s more than just a place to live; it’s full of memories, family traditions, and stories,” she says.

That sense of continuity extends beyond her own family. Others in the Dordt and Sioux Center community still recognize the home and remember her grandparents, especially their love of history and storytelling. Living in the house has become a way of stepping into that legacy.

“It makes me feel connected to my family in a deeper way,” Gesink says. “It’s also been really special to experience the house in a new way while still remembering what it used to be like growing up.”

For her roommates, the Mouw House is simply a place to live during their time at Dordt. But for Gesink, it is something far more personal—a space where past and present meet, where childhood memories and college experiences overlap.

It is, in a sense, a kind of homecoming.

About Dordt University

As an institution of higher education committed to the Reformed Christian perspective, Dordt University equips students, faculty, alumni, and the broader community to work toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life. Located in Sioux Center, Iowa, Dordt is a comprehensive university named to the best college lists by U.S. News and World Report, the Wall Street Journal, Times Higher Education, Forbes.com, Washington Monthly, and Princeton Review.