About us

Ellen was born in Amsterdam but raised inTokyo, Japan and Oxford, UK and currently divides her time between the Cape Town office, The Netherlands and New York city.   She holds a degree in communication management and has a background in marketing and sales.
Ellen started House o Orange in 2000 and is sole owner.
She is married and has 3 grown children and raised her children to be fully bilingual with the help of au pairs. Apart from being with her family, Ellen likes to foster puppies and enjoys donating time and money to South African animal rescue organisations, travelling, reading and watching movies and series.
Ellen speaks Dutch and English fluently, some French and very basic Japanese.
She can be reached at ellen@house-o-orange.nl

Elandi works as the manager of our South African office, where she makes sure that the South African office is always up to par in regard to what is expected of an outbound agency. She focusses on expanding the current programs HOO has to offer, as well as creating new programs to add to the long list of program possibilities for South African and Namibian nationalities.

Elandi has been happily married since the beginning of 2018 and shares a beautiful son with her husband. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, meeting new people as well as travelling. She can be described as determined, motivated and open.

Elandi is fully bilingual in both English and Afrikaans.

Elandi can be reached at manager@house-o-orange.co.za

Annelies has a degree in American Studies from the University of Groningen. She interned for us over the summer of 2006 and started working for House o Orange full time in February 2007 and has never looked back. Annelies was an au pair herself in the US and has a lot of knowledge and expertise with regard to the au pair program. Annelies speaks English and Dutch. Annelies is our Senior Program Manager and she is also responsible for our outbound program. She currently lives in Wassenaar with her partner and her beautiful baby boy who was born in 2019. Annelies loves to travel and she especially enjoys travelling to the US to see her former host family. In her free time Annelies likes to do yoga, read and keep fit by going to the gym.
She can be reached at annelies@house-o-orange.nl

Shammoline was an au pair herself in Voorburg, near Den Haag. During her au pair year she learned a lot about herself and her passion. She speaks Afrikaans and English fluently and is learning Dutch.

Shammoline started working for the company in March 2021 as a Junior Assistant Program Manager and is always up for a new challenge. Shammoline is a very caring person and always open for a conversation.

She currently lives in Leidschenveen, Den Haag with her partner and his daughter. Shammoline loves to travel, enjoys dancing and watching movies and series and loves making small hair tutorials.

Shammoline can be reached at shammoline@house-o-orange.nl