Cindy's Great European Odyssey

Okay, okay, I know many of you predicted it. And many of you asked when it was going to happen. And I’ve been denying it was bound to happen. But it happened! We bought a new project for me in Spain!

Hacienda in the Spanish Hills for Cindy to throw herself at!

Just kidding! This isn’t a real photo, but I had you shaking your head, didn’t I? Well, we spent last week in Spain. Flew to Valencia, rented a car, and peeled over to L’Adsubia to look again at a house that we had made an offer on 7 years ago (albeit a rejected lowball offer) that we both really liked. Decided at the time that Spain was not our final destination and the house was really too small for full-time living. But a winter retreat??? I thought the place was perfect and saw that it was back on the market!!! This place oozed with charm, was a fairly recent build with underfloor heating, 2 master suites, an adorable kitchen, laundry room, pool, outdoor kitchen, front and back patios and over a hectare of ancient olive trees (Mary, can you imagine the olives we could make and consume???!!!🍸)

The realtor (who we’ve known for probably 9 years) was happy to see us again and simply gave us the keys to the place to come and go as we wished, so that we would have no doubts or regrets when we were ready to make an offer (of course the owners weren’t living there any more). We spent considerable time looking over the place, making notes on things that needed repair, and soaking in the general mojo of the place. I still loved it. Theo didn’t. And if there’s one thing the two of us as a couple have always agreed on in house hunting is that we each need to be 51% sure that’s what we want to do. Maniacal agreement, that’s us. Or else we walk.

Well, Theo sat down on the luxurious sofa in front of the Spanish fireplace that stretched all the way to the high ceilings and said, “You know, when I sit here, I can’t see the view. And for this money, I want to see the view.” I tried to reason with him that there were huge French doors to each side of the fireplace and we could get him a nice chair that would look out one of those. But he relented. “The seating area is so small. The columns in the middle of the space were a hindrance to better furniture placement. And, overall, the place must not have been much over 100 square meters.” Of course, he was right. I was swept away with the ambiance of the place. And the situation that it was in—pure silence in the middle of orange groves, yet 700 meters to a small town with store, baker, butcher, restaurants and bars. A slightly larger town was 5 minutes in the car and the beach was 20 minutes by car. The beach that we both have been talking about since NOT moving to Spain. The beach that we both longed for.

And so, after two days of weighing the pros and the cons, we came to a consensus that the house was not a good value for us. It was a lot of money and not a lot of house. Although my heart sank to my stomach in disappointment, I knew we were right in not proceeding.

And so we called the realtor to tell him we didn’t feel it was a good value. (I must have also mentioned that Theo didn’t like the fact that he had no ‘view.’) And without missing a beat, our trusty friend came up with other alternatives. Theo and I had agreed with each other, that since this house didn’t work out, we were in no hurry to land something else. We could take our time and look around and squeeze lots of fun visits out of scouting other properties!

But the realtor said he had one special house that we just HAD to see. (He had a couple of others in his back pocket, but this one would stand out.) And so we agreed to meet at an urbanization—a community that I previously had said I would never consider living in! But up the hill we drove, and up, and up, and up. We parked outside a fairly unassuming house and went in to meet the sellers and view the property. They had just drastically lowered the listing price, after another deal fell through after a year of waiting. They had proceeded with another property purchase and were very anxious to move on.

They had built this house in 2002 and made some high-end choices in the construction and outfitting. They lived there ever since, but were moving back to their homeland for their twilight years. And so we had stumbled upon this ‘bargain’—way more house than we intended, but when Theo walked in and saw the expansive view, he really, really felt like this could be home. I was more skeptical with the size of the place, some of the dated finishes, and the exterior stairs, but I agreed that the view was something that I had dreamed about.

Yes, the house is on a slope. Yes, the property has stairs outside. But the main living area—entrance, living, dining, kitchen, library, patios (both sun and shade), guest toilet, winter garden, and fabulous master suite are all on the same level. Perfect. This was our living space. And this could work (at least with a few minor decorating tweaks!)

But wait, there’s more! Downstairs is a large laundry room (with shoot from above), exercise room, and a sauna. There’s also a 2-bedroom apartment with a kitchen, full bath, and living/dining room off the pool level. This level is completed by the fabulous swimming pool, with a protected seating area and an outdoor shower.

And way on top, on it’s own little floor, is another space. Now used as an office, this could work as another sleeping space, a library, a yoga room, or just about anything else we can come up with. The views up there are spectacular as well.

Underneath the house, the owner built a bodega, his pride and joy. I failed to get photos of it, but it is a great bonus space. Consisting of a large rumpus room, currently housing two long pub-type tables for 12, a built-in beer keg tap, and a separate wine cellar. I think there was a toilet down there too…honestly, I can’t remember!!!

Then there’s the other half of the ‘deal…’ This property is actually two plots. The house was built on one lot, then the sellers bought the lot next door and built a garage structure and a studio. They tamed the hill terrain that was included in the lot and installed the most amazing tropical gardens along paths that wind down the slope, with handy places to stop and enjoy the view and drink the bottle you just grabbed from the cellar! God forbid that you have to climb back up!!!

Under the garage is a great space with lots of light, tall ceilings and that view! I’m thinking this can be used as extra sleeping space in a pinch (most likely for me to nap) or, better yet, my Spanish STUDIO! With a mini-bar, a bathroom, and plenty of space for me to spread out all kinds of artistic crap! Did I mention this was way more house than we were looking for???

Last, but not least, is a seating area tucked by the side of the house…replete with rock waterfall and lush fish pond at the bottom. Still need to get the names of the fish from the seller! 🐡🐠🐟

The waterfall, fish pond, and death stairs.

So I know what you’re wondering… and no, we’re not leaving France. This will be mostly a winter residence and a getaway place for us. Anything for a happy husband. 😎

And here’s my happy husband looking at his view.

Lucky for us, the place was sold completely furnished, right down to the pots and pans, dishes, and glasses in the kitchen—even the iron and ironing board! So with a few cosmetic changes, some paint and a few pieces of new furniture, we’ll be set.

And I must add…thanks, Dad.