This is Part 2 of a re-working of an article Paul Whitelock originally wrote in 2020 as part of a trilogy which describes, in diary form, his history of property renovation and development in the UK, Spain and Luxembourg.
He has owned three properties in England, three in Ronda (Málaga) and one in Montejaque (also Málaga).
He has also worked on several building projects for other people – two in England in Luton and Yate, two in Luxembourg, two in Ronda and three in Montejaque.
10 November 2020
Following my annus horribilis, when I was made redundant, my wife divorced me and I had a nervous breakdown, I found myself living with a new lady, Maude, in a beautiful cottage in Bryn-y-Maen, North Wales.
I did a few bits and pieces of DIY there to keep my hand in, and then, when I took her to Ronda for a long weekend, Maude bought a small house in the City of Dreams on the spur of the moment (She was quite well-to.do!)
The little house in the corner
We called it El Rincón, because it was tucked away in a corner.
It needed a lot of work, which I happily took on. Maude was still working full time in the UK, but I was retired so spent months in Ronda re-wiring, building a new bathroom, tiling floors and creating a rather delightful terraced garden at the rear of the house.
A good lick of paint and El Rincón was finished.
A blast from the past
The end of that relationship put paid to my DIY activities for a couple of years, until an old university friend, Jac, who lives in Luxembourg, invited me to spend the summer of 2008 in the Grand Duchy helping her daughter and son-in-law renovate an old house they had bought there.
That was great fun and I developed some new skills, since building practices in Luxembourg differ significantly from the ones I had become familiar with in the UK.
I also did some remedial work at Jac’s house in Hesperange.
After that busy but enjoyable summer of 2008, which included a summer romance with Jac, I was “footloose and fancy-free” again.
So I headed off to Ronda to stay in Piso Blanco for a few days, prior to moving into a house in Latchford, Warrington, which I’d bought with the proceeds from the sale of Casa Blanca, the Ronda house I’d done up a few years before.
A “new” old house
The Warri
ngton house was a real bargain. Tunstall Villa, as the “new” house in Latchford was named, was a “do-er up-er”. A Victorian detached villa, rather down on its luck, it had the potential to be a great house again. It only cost me £119,000.
Still “unemployed” – by this time I’d been retired for three years – I had plenty of time on my hands, so I set about the renovation.
Over many months I created a delightful winter garden, renovated the rear internal area to provide a WC and laundry room, re-decorated throughout, and then, after two and a half years … I sold it!
Why on earth …?
A new life in Spain
Well, on that visit to Ronda in September 2008 that I mentioned earlier, I’d met a lady who had emigrated from Germany a couple of years before and was living in Montejaque. I nicknamed her the “Meter Maid”.
Yes, you guessed it, her name is Rita.
We dated in Spain, the UK and Germany, where she is from originally, and quickly fell in love.
I immigrated to Spain at the end of that year, 2008, to live with Rita in her lovely village house, Casa Rita, in Montejaque.
In 2010 we got married, in Maulbronn (Baden-Württemberg).
The DIY at Casa Rita didn’t stop, however! I built a kitchenette in a bedroom that we set up as a B & B and handled all the maintenance work at Casa Rita.
Both of us having committed to living in Spain, we needed a house that better met the needs of our respective families, eg her disabled grandson, my ailing mother.
So I so
ld Tunstall Villa in Latchford and we used the money from the sale to buy our dream house in the campo just outside Ronda. That house is known as Villa Indiana. That happened in 2011, the year after we “jumped the broom” and we still live there after 10 years of married life [now 14].
The DIY and gardening have continued, of course, although, as I get older, I rely a bit more on local paid help to keep on top of things.
In 2019 I decided to sell Piso Blanco in Ronda after 18 years’ ownership. We had been using it as a holiday rental, but all of a sudden the bookings started to dry up, so it had to go.
Property development Spanish-style
In October 2020, I used some of the money from the sale of Piso Blanco to buy a charming old house in Montejaque, where we had previously lived. I needed a project again and so I am currently restoring it to its former glory.
To be sure, I’m 70 now, but the mind is still willing even if the flesh is weak. With the help of professionals, Casa Pablo is currently being re-configured and re-wired, prior to re-plastering, installing a new bathroom and extending the roof terrace.
Then it will have a lick of paint prior to being offered as a vivienda rural to any tourists who might possibly pass this way again during and after this challenging Covid-19 life we are currently living.
The work is progressing slowly, because of repeated Covid lockdowns, but surely. And after it’s finished, who knows?
Maybe I should just hang up my DIY boots!
Update - 4 years on
This is a re-working of an article Paul Whitelock originally wrote in 2020 as part of a trilogy which describes, in diary form, his history of property renovation and development in the UK, Spain and Luxembourg.
Paul is now 74, yet in the last four years he has project-managed several renovation and improvement projects in the area.
In Ronda he managed the complete re-decoration and preparation for sale of a large house on behalf of the owners, a couple from Liverpool.
Unfortunately, he hasn't been paid yet for his work and the matter is currently in the hands of lawyers.
In Montejaque Paul managed upgrades to two houses owned by an English artist from Essex.
One was made ready for sale and has already been sold.
The other is a large rental property, which is renting well. This time Paul has been paid in full.
As for Casa Pablo in Montejaque this "do-er up-er" has been renamed Casa Real, in honour of the family he bought the house from (Real is their surname). All three phases of the renovation are now complete, and Casa Real is available to rent:
CASA REAL, Montejaque (Malaga) - Help me, Ronda (help-me-ronda.com)
Casa Real is also for sale:
CASA REAL, MONTEJAQUE - Large modernised traditional village house in beautiful pueblo blanco - 149.000€ - Help me, Ronda (help-me-ronda.com)
© Diary of a Nobody
Links:
www.help-me-ronda.com
www.secretserrania.com
Acknowledgements:
Paul Whitelock
The Olive Press
www.help-me-ronda.com
www.secretserrania.com
Photos:
AirBnb
Karl Smallman
Paul Whitelock
Rightmove
www.help-me-ronda.com
www.secretserrania.com
Tags:
£11,000, £119,000, £37,500, amateur, A new life in Spain, A “new” old house, Baden-Württemberg, balcony, Blogging, bricklayer, Bryn-y-Maen, building a new bathroom, building project, campo, carpenter, Casa Blanca, Casa Pablo, Casa Real, Casa Rita, collapsed floor, Covid-19, divorce, “do-er up-er”, DIY, drainpipes, dream house, early retirement, electrical work, electrician, El Rincón, England, ensuite bathroom, extending the roof terrace, “footloose and fancy-free”, four-bedroomed, four reception rooms, garage, gardening, Germany, Grand Duchy, Greater Manchester, guttering, Hesperange, installing a new bathroom, interpreter, Jac, Jeryl, journalism, languages teacher, Latchford, laundry room, lounge-cum-music room, Luton, Luxembourg, Málaga, Maude, Maulbronn, “Meter Maid”, Montejaque, Montejaque Diary – First Ever Stay, mortgage interest rate, M6, My God! What Have We Done?, North Wales, painter and decorator, painting, painting and decorating, patio, Paul Whitelock, pergola, Piso Blanco, plumber, plumbing, professional, property renovation, re-configured, re-decorated, redundancy, remedial work, re-plastering, retirement, re-wire, re-wiring, Rita, Ronda, school inspector, semi-detached, shower, southern Spain, Spain, summer romance, terrace, terraced garden, The houses that Jack built, Thelwall, Thelwall Viaduct, third WC, three-bed detached, tiler, tiling floors, tradesman, translator, treehouse, Tunstall Villa, two bath-roomed house, UK, university friend, upgraded the kitchen, Victorian detached villa, Villa Indiana, vivienda rural, wall-papering, Warrington, WC, winter garden, www.help-me-ronda.com, Yate, YouTube