About Us

In November 2000 we bought 15,000 square metres of protected Cork Oak woods with a plan to build a house and move permanently to live in a warmer climate - in a bid to ease the health problems Sandra was having with "Raynauds".

In July 2001, we finally left the UK to start our "new" life in Alhaurin el Grande, Malaga, travelling down through the UK, France and Spain in a motor home. Unbeknown to us this was to be our home for the next 13 months!

In November 2001, the building of the main house and the "apartment" was finally started with a completion date of July 2002.

Simon at 18 years old and by now a first year student at York University completed the writing of the web site on a computer balanced on the front passenger seat of the motor home and it was uploaded at local internet cafes. Despite a year and 8 months wait we still had not been able to get a telephone line installed on the site - it was finally installed 3 years after applying for it and only then with the help of the EU in Brussels.

The only property advertised on the site was "El Roble Apartment", now called "La Bellota".

How we lived!

The first booking was to start on the 14th August, after some building delays we were finally given a completion date for the house and apartment of 14th August. On the 1st August with the apartment still incomplete, no windows/doors/kitchen etc we laid the lawn, working late into the night testing the watering system - at least we could ensure the garden was complete - the grass would take two weeks to "bed in".

On the morning of the 14th we finally moved into the main house and the apartment now complete except for the kitchen was ready for the new guests. The kitchen was fitted later that day at 6pm while the guests had dinner at a local restaurant - finally moving in at 8pm - we had made it we were finally "open".

Bookings came in fast and we even had repeat bookings within the first year, so a decision was made to build a 2 bedroom villa on the far end of the land - ensuring guests and ourselves retained our privacy. The initial plan was to give the villa patio areas as well as a large roof terrace and as the Hot Tub was so popular at the apartment to have a second one delivered for the new villa.

 La Bellota is only a brick wall in February 2002, then in August 14th 2002 just about ready for 1st guests - if only the plants would grow.

The building of the new villa started in March 2003 with a completion date for June 2003. With the property still unfinished we took the first booking with guests arriving on 18th June. Again we had delays, but this time the only solution was for Graham to volunteer to help build! So with just 9 days to go, Graham reported to "work" each day and finally on the afternoon of the 18th the guests checked in passing the builders on the patio as they left - another close call, but we had made it - "El Roble Villa", now called "El Corcho Villa", was also open!

After a successful first year of the villa, together with the apartment continuing to be busy we decided to "donate" some of our fruit tree area to increase the land at the villa. This would add a lawn garden and swimming pool area. So in November 2004 the swimming pool was built leaving the two of us to lay another lawn in the January of 2005 only to have it damaged one week later in a very rare period of prolonged frost, the worst for some 40 years.

The first bookings for the "villa with pool and hot tub" came in the Easter of 2005 and after much care and attention to the new garden - the first guests enjoyed the extra areas and facilities.

Graham building villa with just 9 days to go ! Then finally finished! We even planted a couple of plants.

So now after much work building, landscaping, gardening and improving the land we have finally finished - the work now continues with the ongoing promotion of the properties together with the never ending task of maintaining gardens in this Andalucian climate.

End of June 2002-7 weeks before we moved in and how "El Roble" is now.