Turning a decaying old house into a B&B with a swimming pool takes a lot of time, especially as Ward wanted to do most everything himself. However, it was more a matter of necessity than desire due to our financial situation. We spent 2 years (with occasional help from family and friends) installing tiles, building the stairs, and finishing the walls.
Extra hands
We were lucky to have professional help because if we had to do everything on our own, we would still be busy. We collaborated with Marjan, a contractor from the village who took care of quite a lot, including the septic tank, the swimming pool, room Vino, the water supply and drainage, and the installation of windows, insulation, and facade.
For 2 years, there was a lot of running back and forth with materials and people to make the house habitable again for the first time in 20 years. After about 4 years, it was about time to make some money again, so after decorating the rooms, we welcomed guests to our B&B, On The Rocks, in July 2017. A very appropriate name since we live on a rocky hill where earth is scarce. In fact, it was so rocky that the contractor discussed using dynamite to build the swimming pool. There was no need in the end, but the machines worked hard for several weeks.
Here are a few more facts:
– The stones dug out to make room for our pool are now visible in the wall behind the pool.
– The staircase to the B&B has 42 steps and was built by us from scratch. The entrance used to be on the other side of the house. The construction of this staircase alone took about 6 months.
– When we bought the house, there was no water supply. We took showers with a watering can; in the garden, there was a toilet and another watering can😊.
– Since we wanted a vegetable garden, we had soil delivered.
– We officially live at Pauci 46, but this address is meaningless to people from the village. They know us as the Belgians who live at Gelđumi (this is the surname of the previous owner).
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