Juliet

The current owner of Casa del Puente is Juliet … her Romeo was called Antonello … she an English rebel child of the swinging sixties, he a Neapolitan entrepreneur with an artistic soul … their role in the dawning of the Age of Aquarius … ran a club in Italy … wandered Greece, Portugal and Spain ... “motorised gypsies”… the post-war generation having fun in the sun …. dancing, drinking, exploring and expanding the outer and inner spaces with all sorts of herbal and chemical assistance … and three children joining the party along the way … all landing at San Enrique in 1978 ... the dream home … a villa with land on a hill overlooking the River Guardiaro and its iconic iron bridge …

It turns out the original building was built on shaky foundations, the extension with roof terrace stronger ones. Meanwhile, the foundations of the tempestuous love story shook too from time to time and eventually Juliet returned to England with the children … Antonello lived out his days in the dream home, which, like many dreams, turned into a sadder reality.

And so, four years ago, he died and the Casa de del Puente returned to Juliet and their children.

The house was raided on the day of Antonello's funeral … not a good omen for its next phase as holiday home and the property boom had peaked and crashed with no sign of recovery.

The luxury house, meanwhile, was showing signs of decay … going the way of all material things, entropy being an inescapable law of life …. restoration requiring significant sums to make the house viable, but no prospect of finding a buyer at the price desired.

Juliet, assisted by family and friends, took on the task of protecting the property while the thankfully united family processed the practical, financial and emotional implications for the future.

Which brings the story to its present stage …. decision made, estate agent engaged, price reduced, Juliet released … and caretaker enlisted to watch over the marble and other removables …

Who knows how much more the price must fall to find its new owner? The niche may be the local polo scene, where a second home is loose change for the wealthy …. the old world story in whch that plays out has a while to run and though there is potential for a new world story of self-sufficiency in the sun, with land for food growing and space for intentional community, the prices are radically reduced in the marginal lands in the hills … lets see …

Juliet meanwhile heads home on Friday, though where exactly home is has yet to be established ...