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Miami Heat

The Holmes family were delighted to find a modern interior-designed villa with room to add their own style.

Discreetly tucked away behind high bougainvillea-covered whitewashed walls is Casa Miami. The stunning home of John and Sally Holmes in Guadalmina Baja could be easily missed whilst travelling along the narrow road that leads from the highway to the quiet beach a short distance from the house. Once the heavy steel gates swing open, however, the true beauty of the house becomes apparent.
Casa Miami is a spacious contemporary villa painted a cool azure blue. Sally greets me on the drive with her daughter, Poppy, and ushers me through the house to the shaded terraces overlooking the stunning gardens and swimming pool. As we sit drinking tea Sally explains how she, Poppy and husband John started their life in Spain.
“When Poppy was born in December 2005 we decided that it would be a wonderful opportunity for us to move to Spain on a more permanent basis so that we could give her the gift of being bilingual, along with all the other lifestyle benefits of living in Spain such as the fabulous weather and outdoor lifestyle. We have a house in the UK and John still has a business there and commutes on a regular basis, but with the use of the internet he can spend plenty of time with us here in the sunshine.”
It is hard to believe the house is so close to a busy road. The only sound is birdsong and the soft burble of the waterfall at the far end of the swimming pool. As we walk around the gardens Sally explains what their priorities were when looking for their dream home.

“Location was very important to us. Guadalmina Baja is a very tranquil urbanisation and it is only a short distance from Puerto Banus and Marbella with a wealth of high quality restaurants and shops.” She continues, “we also have easy access to airports at both Malaga and Gibraltar, we are only five minutes from the beach and there are numerous golf courses close by for John.”
The spacious villa, which has five bedrooms and three reception areas, was originally built and designed by the Spanish interior designer Javier Correa. Sadly, due to ill health he and his family were unable to move into the property. John heard the house was on the market in 1999 and completed the purchase in the spring of 2000.
The villa also has a spacious underbuild with a laundry and an area that is currently been converted into a personal gym. The bedrooms are all en suite with private terraces overlooking the gardens and all doors on the ground floor open directly on to the covered terraces, which offer maximum use throughout the year and ensure shade from the sun especially during the summer months. The irregular shaped swimming pool has been created to emulate an oasis complete with rock features, tropical plants, palm trees and a waterfall.
Sally and John wanted the villa to have a modern and light feel but also be comfortable and liveable. Sally explains, “The overall style had to be contemporary, light, stylish and airy. We wanted the colours used overall to be cool and ensure tranquillity. The designer however has broken this up by the introduction of occasional splashes of colour which I think has successfully maximised the wow-factor throughout.”
Although Sally and John bought the villa with many of the fixtures and fittings and quirky design features created by Javier Correa such as the hand painted murals in many of the bathrooms, Sally has added personal touches everywhere. She chose the contemporary furniture and the zebra painting above the fireplace in the main sitting room, which she fell in love with when she spotted it on a shopping trip. Another favourite is a Thai-style wooden carved door that was found propped up outside a local shop and now looks fabulous on the wall by the swimming pool. There is also the ornamental elephant by the pool that Sally spotted in a local design shop and fell in love with. Many of the other ornaments and paintings have been picked up either locally or on Sally and John’s travels around the world.
Sally continues, “One of the major changes we made after moving in was to paint the exterior of the property, which was originally dark grey. We also redesigned the large terrace off the master bedroom and added stairs to lead directly down to the pool area. This allows everyone to have more privacy, especially when we have guests staying. A name change to Casa Miami and the transformation was complete.”
Poppy is now 18 months old and already attending a local nursery school. All the children there are Spanish and Poppy is already greeting mum and dad with hola when they collect her: it looks as though she’s well on the way to becoming bilingual as Sally and John hope. Life seems perfect for the Holmes family. Are there any negatives aspects to living in Spain? Sally thinks for a moment.
“Well there is the language difference, but John and I are having Spanish lessons. We must learn or Poppy will be better than us! There is the bureaucracy at certain times and of course the tourists that fill up the car parks and restaurants during Easter and the summer. But that’s about it really. Life in Spain could not be better.”

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