Renovation project lured those seeking Spanish retreat
"Most British people in our area put up chain-link fences with barbed wire all around their land as if to say 'this is mine'," says John Nelson. "We just didn't want to do it that way."
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."
Getting to know the neighbours has been the best thing they could have done, says John. "I'm astonished at English people who live in the Spanish countryside full-time and don't know any of their neighbours," he remarks. With their neighbours, John and Anne and their co-owners have developed a symbiotic relationship. They have reached verbal agreements allowing a handful of local people to graze goats and a horse on their land, and to harvest the olives and almonds that grow plentifully.
In return the land is looked after, they get it ploughed over every couple of years, and the British owners receive a sack of almonds, and occasional gifts such as large wheels of cheese when they are there. "We'll get back from being out for the day and find a bag of lemons or a rice pudding hanging in the olive tree in front of the house" says Anne.
More to the point, the neighbours look out for their property. "A year of so ago, some small animals got onto the roof and flipped off some of the tiles, trying to find bees," says John. "It would have been disastrous if the rain had got in. But a neighbour saw this and rang us in England to let us know so we could fix it."
Anne and John also eat in local restaurants and often have neighbours drop by for a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. "There's respect on both sides, and I think that's important," says John.
The couple - who now have three children aged 14, 11 and seven - only make it to the house once or twice a year, when they try to stay for three weeks at a time, but they know that because of the animals being grazed there, it is not abandoned the rest of the time. And they also let friends stay for a token amount. "In the early days, we didn't charge them - we just asked them to do some work, like collecting wood, or helping to build a wall, while they were there."
Over 10 years, the area has changed, with the advance of electricity bringing in a wave of foreign buyers, but although John and Anne have been told they could make a tidy profit by selling, they have no intention of doing so. "Other people are buying properties purely with an eye on developing to make money, but that's never been something we were interested in," says John.
He concedes, however, that he would like to make the house more comfortable one day, as it's not really suitable for year-round use. There's just a wood stove to provide heating and water is still pumped from the well. "What's great about the house," says Anne, "apart from the breathtaking scenery and absolute silence is that our three technology mad children do not miss their computer, TV or DVD and spend their time playing games, reading books, trekking up and down the hills and generally having a free and lovely time."
The children would love to have a swimming pool, but that would mean hooking up to the electricity supply. And while John and Anne haven't exactly ruled that out, what's the hurry? Mañana, perhaps.
Alexander Garrett is a freelance property writer who contributes regularly to The Observer and British Airways' Business Life.
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