A family has shared how they sold their home – only to buy it back again, along with 28 others.
Camilla Wright’s family owned their holiday home for more than 20 years, but maintenance needs, supervision and other issues meant they struggled to keep up with the demands of running a second home.
The family searched for a way to keep the property in their lives – and managed to find the perfect solution.
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They realised the holiday home, in Provence, France, could become a shared house, where several families would co-own homes and they would only be responsible for a share of the costs of maintenance.
“For us, shared ownership became a way to combine the past and the future,” 55-year-old Camila, who works as a tax manager, told What’s The Jam.
“We could let go of the responsibility without letting go of the place that has been the setting for our family’s vacations for three generations.”
The family used shared housing concept MyHomes, which handles the purchase, renovation, and management of the homes, while the owners share maintenance costs and gain access to a selection of vacation homes across Europe.
The house in Provence and four additional new properties are now shared by 29 families.
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The family now co-owns five homes in Europe, including an apartment in Mallorca, Spain, an apartment in Rome and a country house in Piemonte, Italy, and a ski chalet apartment in Megève, France.
Camilla added: “A house benefits from being used.
“When it is only used a few weeks a year, it still requires ongoing maintenance and attention.
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“We were at a point where we either had to completely let go of the house and sell it or find another solution where it could be used more and still be part of our lives.
“Luckily, we found that solution.”
For Camilla’s son, Lucas, the house in Provence has been part of his life from the start. The house was built in 2002 – the same year he was born – and he has been going there his whole life.
Lucas, a mechanical engineering student living in Copenhagen, said: “I have been there as long as I can remember.
“A large part of life there was around the pool – that’s where I learned to swim, and where we spent many hours every single holiday.”
Once he turned 16, Lucas began visiting the house with his friends and, later, his girlfriend.
Lucas, together with his girlfriend, will be the first in the family to experience the house after it has been taken over and renovated.
He added: “We actually became a couple there when we were 16-17 years old.
“First, she came along as a family friend, then the next time there were a bit more intentions, and since then it has become our romantic getaway.
“The house has followed our relationship all the way.
“It’s about peace, togetherness, and traditions – the kind of vacation where you completely unwind.
“We always walk down the mountain together toward the town and often end up at the same restaurant by the square.
“They know us by now down there.”
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