An Essex couple who fell in love with the cave homes of Andalucia bought one, moved in and now sell them
When Sally-Ann Crane and Sean Lummis went on their first date, they decided there and then that they would leave the UK and try living in Spain. Sean had always fancied living in AndalucÃa and on a four day visit to look at property in Galera, the couple fell in love with the area and the idea of owning their own cave home   so much so that they bought the second cave the agent showed them.
“It was the quickest sale Craig at Spanish Inland Properties has ever hadâ€, Sean said. “We paid 59,500 euros (about £39,200) for the cave in its unrenovated state, and have spent another 30,000 euros (about £20,000) renovating it. For seven months we had to live in the out-house and at one point we were down to our last 20 euros but it has all been worth it. We have no regrets about coming and living here.â€
It´s a world apart from Primrose Hill in Chelmsford where the couple were living before their move. Sally-Ann who is originally from Billericay and went to Mayflower County High met Sean, a former Great Baddow Comprehensive pupil at Reds nightclub in Chelmsford in January 2003.
With help and advice from Spanish Inland Properties, Sean and Sally did most of the renovation work on the cave themselves: a far cry from from the occupations they had when they lived in Chelmsford. Sally worked as a legal secretary in London and Sean worked for a shipping company in Barking.
It took three weeks just to lay the floor tiles and three coats of plaster on the interior walls to stop them flaking, but now almost a year since they first moved to Spain the cave is completed and sold; Sean and Sally are on the move again. Selling their cave for 110,000 euros (about £72,500), their original purchase has also proven to be a wise investment for the couple who have just bought a new cave home in the same area... naturally from Spanish Inland Properties who they both now work for.
Sean continued: “Part of the integration is learning how to do things ourselves. We have stood on our own two feet and made our home but we had Craig and Spanish Inland Properties to help us when we needed it and that was very reassuring. Obviously they´re good people and very professional or we wouldn´t have sold our cve through them or bought from them again, and we certainly wouldn´t be both working for them now.â€
Well and truly settled in the area and fully embracing the traditional Spanish way of life Galera offers, Sean and Sally both now work as key members of the Spanish Inland Properties staff. Sean is out and about showing and selling the cave homes while Sally works in the offices as a property consultant based in the village.
“Sean´s sister and brother-in-law Sharon and Gary Sonnex who are also from Chelmsford came out to visit us for a weekend and while they were out here fell in love with a cave house ina village nearby, bought it and moved out here themselves,†said Sally-Ann. “They had absolutely no intention of moving out to Spain whatsoever before they came out to visit us. They live in one side of the cave, which is in Freila near to the lovely Lake Negratin, and let the other side out to holidaymakers.â€
Their website for rental information is www.spanishcaveholiday.co.uk but beware: you could end up staying longer than you intended.
