John, an NGO worker originally from the US, and his partner Anne Montague, a journalist, bought their home in rural Andalusia around 10 years ago. The house is owned jointly with a couple of friends, and it's unconventional in other ways. The finca-style property, surrounded by 14 acres of land, still has no electricity and water is supplied via a pump from a well. As such, it provides a refreshing antidote to the crowded, hectic and often stressful lifestyle in the UK.
The suggestion to buy a house in Spain jointly came from a friend of Anne's who had already bought and sold. The couple, with two small children at the time, thought it would be fun, and liked the idea of "a place we could go for years and years, where there would be lots of sunshine". Their search centred around the hinterland of Coin, just north-west of Malaga, an area which at the time was virtually undiscovered by outsiders.
After two weeks of driving up long dirt roads with the children sweltering in the back of the car, they were taken by their contact - a local woman who spoke English - to a house called Don Cristovita in a hidden valley, not far from the town of Alora. "As soon as we walked down the lane and saw it, we knew it was the one," says John. "It was beautiful, surrounded by wild flowers, even though it was clearly a wreck."An offer was made and accepted - they are reticent about the price, but John observes: "There was no real property market there; people were virtually giving away these ruins because they wanted to go and live in an apartment in the town." But then came disappointment: Anne and John's friends changed their minds about the purchase, and as they were unable to buy it alone, the purchase was dropped. A year later, and another change of heart, it was back on and fortunately the house was still available at the same price.
Buying was relatively straightforward, says John, adding: "It was fundamental that we had an estate agent who was able to explain all the costs, local taxes and procedures." Both Anne and her friend Polly, as the legal owners, had to register as non-residents with the local authorities.
The house itself really was a wreck. Although it had a traditional roof, this was made of mud and bamboo under the tiles, which they soon discovered housed rats. The rear portion of the house had been used to keep animals and was covered with countless years worth of goat dung. Part of the building had collapsed, only two rooms had tiled floors and there was no glazing in the windows. Apart from the rats, there were also bees and wasps nesting throughout the building.
Anne says: "We would go and camp outside the house while Polly and Philip braved the insects and rodents indoors. We cooked outside on an open fire, ate outside and washed up outside - it was pretty basic living and that was our children's only experience of a holiday! It's no wonder that when the builders came to do work on the property they took pity on us and built us an outdoor barbecue without us asking for it!"
A local builder was employed to do the renovation. The roof was replaced, floors and windows were installed throughout, kitchen and bathroom were put in and the collapsed section was rebuilt. They also had the outside walls plastered, terraces built and a water system installed.
It wasn't easy overseeing the work from 2,000 miles away, but in spite of a few 'surprises' along the way, John says: "Using a local builder certainly earned us a lot of goodwill."
The suggestion to buy a house in Spain jointly came from a friend of Anne's who had already bought and sold. The couple, with two small children at the time, thought it would be fun, and liked the idea of "a place we could go for years and years, where there would be lots of sunshine". Their search centred around the hinterland of Coin, just north-west of Malaga, an area which at the time was virtually undiscovered by outsiders.
After two weeks of driving up long dirt roads with the children sweltering in the back of the car, they were taken by their contact - a local woman who spoke English - to a house called Don Cristovita in a hidden valley, not far from the town of Alora. "As soon as we walked down the lane and saw it, we knew it was the one," says John. "It was beautiful, surrounded by wild flowers, even though it was clearly a wreck."An offer was made and accepted - they are reticent about the price, but John observes: "There was no real property market there; people were virtually giving away these ruins because they wanted to go and live in an apartment in the town." But then came disappointment: Anne and John's friends changed their minds about the purchase, and as they were unable to buy it alone, the purchase was dropped. A year later, and another change of heart, it was back on and fortunately the house was still available at the same price.
Buying was relatively straightforward, says John, adding: "It was fundamental that we had an estate agent who was able to explain all the costs, local taxes and procedures." Both Anne and her friend Polly, as the legal owners, had to register as non-residents with the local authorities.
The house itself really was a wreck. Although it had a traditional roof, this was made of mud and bamboo under the tiles, which they soon discovered housed rats. The rear portion of the house had been used to keep animals and was covered with countless years worth of goat dung. Part of the building had collapsed, only two rooms had tiled floors and there was no glazing in the windows. Apart from the rats, there were also bees and wasps nesting throughout the building.
Anne says: "We would go and camp outside the house while Polly and Philip braved the insects and rodents indoors. We cooked outside on an open fire, ate outside and washed up outside - it was pretty basic living and that was our children's only experience of a holiday! It's no wonder that when the builders came to do work on the property they took pity on us and built us an outdoor barbecue without us asking for it!"
A local builder was employed to do the renovation. The roof was replaced, floors and windows were installed throughout, kitchen and bathroom were put in and the collapsed section was rebuilt. They also had the outside walls plastered, terraces built and a water system installed.
It wasn't easy overseeing the work from 2,000 miles away, but in spite of a few 'surprises' along the way, John says: "Using a local builder certainly earned us a lot of goodwill."
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