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As a result of bombings and plane crashes, many farms and houses in the German-Dutch border region had become uninhabitable. Immediately after the war, there a was a serious shortage of houses that were fit for habitation. Many temporary houses were therefore built. The smallest in its kind, in the village of Megchelen, was restored and equipped with its authentic furnishings and fittings.
Since 1840, a farm named ‘De Moezeköttel’ used to be here, with a large kitchen garden, an orchard, fields and meadows. In all, it did not measure more than 1.7 hectares. Yet the inhabitants were completely self-supporting.
In March 1945, during the liberation of Megchelen, many houses and farms were destroyed. The living quarters of De Moezeköttel were also reduced to ruins. Though farmer Willem Roes and his wife could no longer live there, they resumed their farmer's lives. In the meantime, they found shelter at their neighbour, a bricklayer who carried out some restorations on the farm and helped with the construction of a temporary house. During the post-war reconstruction, three types of temporary houses were built. The Roes family was given the smallest type with one bedroom.
Over the next decades, the temporary house was improved continuously. For example, the lavatory was moved to inside the house, and a front shed was built for bicycles and coal. A lot changed between 1955 and 1966. De Moezeköttel was painted white and connected to the electricity grid and the water system.
Next-door neighbours bought the house with the yard and the farmland in 1967. The temporary house became a cowshed for calves. In 2013, volunteers started the reconstruction of De Moezeköttel, which can nowadays be visited and functions as a starting point for cycling and hiking routes. With a festive opening of the season every year in April.