I've moved around a lot in my life. Half a dozen times before I went to university. And whilst there I lived in a Hall of Residence, digs and a flat. On my year abroad I lived in digs and a flat in San Sebastian (Spain) and in a Daimler-Benz workers´ hostel in Stuttgart (Germany).
ePenny Logistics
When I was a postgraduate I lived in a huge room in a big house in Sheffield (England).
As a grown-up I lived at number 216 in a block of flats in Salford (England), before we bought our first house, number 74, a semi-detached in Walkden.
Then, in 1980, we moved to the house which is number 1 in my list (Note: if I wrote about every home I've ever lived in, this would be a very long article.)
Number 1
1 Parry Drive, Thelwall, Warrington, Cheshire
Probably my number one house. It was certainly the longest I lived in one place - 25 years (1980 - 2005). While we were there we expanded the house from a 3-bed detached with a garage, 1 bathroom, WC, lounge/diner, kitchen and coal store, ending up with 4 bedrooms, two full bathrooms and two extra rooms - a study and a music room. We also expanded "out the back" giving us a boiler room, WC, laundry room and a pantry-cum-wine cellar. The "piece de resistance" was a large balcony overlooking the park, next door.
[Paul Whitelock]
I travelled for work to Newton-le-Willows, St Helens and later Sefton (all Merseyside). My wife Jeryl to Bolton, N. Wales, Huddersfield, Salford and Bradford as her career moved from international exporting into academic life.
Our two kids, Amy and Tom, attended the local Thelwall Infant and Junior schools and then the High School in Lymm, the next village.
I moved out of 1 Parry Drive in 2005, when our marriage broke up.
Number 2
Conejeras 4, Montejaque, Malaga, Spain
Coinciding with our marriage collapsing I took early retirement in 2005, and emigrated to Andalucia, Spain, in 2008 to be with my new girlfriend, later wife, Rita.
Using some of my savings, in 2019 I bought Conejeras 4 as a "reforma", a house renovation, to give me a "project".
The workshop at the back became the third bedroom and the unused room in the main house became a 2nd bathroom.
I expanded the roof terrace to 3 times its previous size and "Casa Real", as I called the house, became a rental property.
[AirBnb]
Well-located in this small mountain village, just one minute on foot from the village square, it has fabulous views all round from the roof terrace.
Casa Real is now up for sale. I have other plans for which I need the money from the sale of the house.
Number 5
Villa Indiana, Ptda. Rural Fuente de La Higuera 5, Ronda, Malaga, Spain
This detached villa bungalow with lots of land in the campo just outside Ronda, is the only other contender for the best house I have lived in (see above).
Rita and I moved here in early 2011 so we have now clocked up over 15 years here.
With a large, open-plan lounge, dining room and kitchen, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a study, we haven't felt the need to expand the house. Instead I have created several "outdoor rooms".
[A1 Inmobiliaria]
Yes, I have used my energy, coupled with my desire to be active and outside, soaking up the Vitamin D from the sun (300+ days a year!) to improve the large rear terrace and to create several patios and sitting areas (my "outdoor rooms"). I've also worked hard on the garden and pool area.
My current project has involved the creation of a "man-cave" at the back of the garden, to complement the "boules piste" and the children's playground, which were previous projects.
I've also been renovating garden furniture.
Outside coffee tables cannibalised from old wooden sunbeds [PW]
Number 6
Casa Blanca, Lucero 6, Ronda
I bought this unoccupied and somewhat down-on-its-luck end terrace house around the corner from Piso Blanco, an apartment Jeryl and I owned in Barrio San Francisco, Ronda, as a project. I was on "gardening leave" from work and was soon to be early-retired, so I had the time.
With occasional help from retired friend Alan from St Helens, family (Jeryl, Amy and Tom) and Tom's friend Johnny, we made a "silk purse out of a sow's ear". I re-wired the entire house, we knocked through the kitchen into a store room and replaced a collapsed floor. We upgraded the bathroom and mended the leaky roof. But, best of all we reconstituted the large rear terrace, although I hired a bricklayer to build the surrounding walls needed on two sides.
The family pose outside Casa Blanca [Johnny White]
We used Casa Blanca as a rental house for a while, but I eventually sold it for a good profit to enable me to buy the house in Latchford, referred to above (q.v.)
The terrace at Casa Blanca before and after [Paul Whitelock]
Number 7
7 Prestbury Drive, Thelwall, Warrington
Not long after she was widowed, my mum, Vera, announced she was coming up to live near us, so that "I can enjoy my grandchildren [our children Amy and Tom], before it's too late."
She bought a small semi-detached bungalow with gardens front and rear, just right for her, a keen gardener.
We lived nearby at 1 Parry Drive (q.v.), so we saw a lot of each other. She used to babysit for us and I'd go around and do the heavier garden work at her place.
[Awaiting photo]
***
I've included 7 Prestbury Drive in my list, because many years later, following my divorce from Jeryl, early retirement and a troubled relationship with a lady near Llandudno, North Wales, I found myself homeless and mum took me in.
I lived there from 2006 to 2008. I took over running the household (food shopping, cooking and washing-up) and working on the vegetable garden and I also did some DIY.
I spent the summer of 2008 in Luxembourg with Jac, an old friend from my student days. On my return I bought a house of my own in nearby Latchford, a suburb of Warrington, but that's another story for another day .....
Number 8
Casa Rita, Tavizna 8, Montejaque, Malaga
This was Rita's house when we met. When I emigrated at the end of 2008, I lived there for more than two years (2008 - 2011) before we moved to Villa Indiana in February 2011.
Rita, from Germany, still has the house. We sometimes stay at Casa Rita if we have cause to be in Montejaque, or just fancy a change from rural life.
[Karl Smallman]
Casa Rita has also been a profitable rental house for a decade, although Rita has stepped back from renting, as we are now well into our 70s.
One of the finest houses in Montejaque, Casa Rita has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, lounge, dining room, kitchen, patio, breakfast terrace and large "azotea" (roof terrace).
Number 9
9 Cyprus Terrace, Barnstaple, Devon, England
This was the third house I lived in as a boy. Mum and Dad had enough savings to get a mortgage on this mid-terrace, so we could move out of our council house on the other side of town.
I guess I lived there from around 1958 until 1961 when my parents sold it at a large profit and bought the house where my gran lived, 54 Broadfield Road. We moved in with her until a family crisis prompted a transfer to Exeter, 50 miles to the south in East Devon.
Back to 9 Cyprus Terrace. Dad worked hard at evenings and on weekends to improve the house, chiefly by knocking through from the kitchen into the outside WC and coal bunker to create an indoor bathroom. Dad modernised the kitchen, installing a fridge and washing machine. Mum took on the wallpapering and painting of the rest of the house.
So they really added value, something they continued to do for the rest of their days.
[Rightmove]
Number 9 (again)
El Rincón, Durazno 9, Ronda
El Rincón is also a terraced house, but Andalusian-style. This was a spur of the moment purchase by my then girlfriend Maude in September 2005 during a weekend visit to the "City of Dreams". Located in the Las Peñas district, it was small and in urgent need of an upgrade, but it was very quaint, had a big garden and it was "dirt cheap".
Aerial photo showing location of El Rincón [PW]
We called it El Rincón because it was sort of tucked away in a corner. The Spanish word means "internal corner" or "nook" and the name seemed appropriate.
The house and garden needed a lot of work, which I happily took on. Maude was still working full time in the UK, but I was retired, so I was able to spend months in Ronda re-wiring, building a new bathroom, tiling floors and creating a rather splendid terraced garden with shady pérgola at the rear of the house. We invested in lots of plants and acquired a large quantity of ornamental stones and pebbles. A good lick of paint and after many months El Rincón was finished.
Maude’s youngest daughter, Welsh-born Becky, and her fiancé, Scotsman Graham, were frequent visitors and they helped a lot with the building work and gardening.
They loved Ronda so much that they got married in the town. You can read what happened in A Celtic Wedding in Ronda.
A couple more years went by and Maude and I broke up, although we remained good friends and kept in touch. After a while Maude put “Rinc” on the market, but it was post-2008 and the worldwide economic crash, so the housing market was dead.
However, in Spring 2010 I sold it for Maude to an English shopkeeper friend, “Soapy” Sara (she sold handmaid soaps from a shop on Calle Sevilla, Ronda).
After the notary to seal the deal and to complete the purchase, Maude, Rita, and I enjoyed a delicious meal together in one of our favourite restaurants, Restaurante El Almocábar in the Barrio San Francisco.
El Rincón symbolised the end of an era. With El Rincón sold, Maude’s relationship with Ronda was over, and my time living there was up.
Number 10
10 Ide Lane, Alphington, Exeter, Devon, England
This semi-detached house was the last place I lived with my parents (1965 - 1968) before I left home for university. This was the best house my parents had, as a result of judicious selling and buying, improving each property as they went along.
Dad had a huge garden, mum had a sun lounge, we all had separate bedrooms and there was a downstairs loo, in addition to the upstairs bathroom. There was also an integral garage and a drive.
[Awaiting photo]
Links
A Celtic wedding in Ronda - Secret Serrania de Ronda
The Building History of a 72-year-old DIY Fan - EOS
The Houses That Jack Built - update - EOS
The story of El Rincón in Ronda - the “City of Dreams” - Secret Serrania
© Paul Whitelock
Pictures:
A1 Inmobiliaria, AirBnb, ePenny Logistics, Johnny White, Karl Smallman, Paul Whitelock, Rightmove
Thanks:
Alan, Amy, Jeryl, Johnny, Paul Whitelock, Tom,
Tags:
1 Parry Drive, 10 Ide Lane, 54 Broadfield Road, 7 Prestbury Drive, 9 Cyprus Terrace, Alan, Alphington, Amy, Barnstaple, Barrio San Francisco, Bolton, Bradford, Casa Blanca, Casa Rita, Conejeras 4, Daimler-Benz, Devon, Durazno 9, England, Exeter, EOS, Germany, Huddersfield, Jac, Jeryl, Johnny White, Karl Smallman, Latchford, Llandudno, Luxembourg, Lymm, man-cave, Montejaque, Merseyside, N. Wales, Newton-le-Willows, North Wales, Paul Whitelock, Piso Blanco, Rightmove, Ronda, St Helens, Salford, San Sebastian, Secret Serrania, Sefton, Sheffield, Spain, Stuttgart, Tavizna 8, Thelwall, Tom, Villa Indiana, Warrington,