Montenegro in the winter time

Afternoon, Grovers. 

         As you are probably aware, a contingent has just returned from 4 days in Montenegro. We stayed with our friends at Kula, on the steep cobbled street in Stari Bar, and mostly spent our days flitting to and from the architects. Together we visited the mill on a few occasions. Be it to measure up, or just imagine new ideas. There is a lot to think about - as we are having to remove the entirety of the internals of the building, we are going to be left with a massive box. And it’s this lack of restrictions that make decision making so difficult. The question is always ‘That’s nice, but could it be better?’. The answer so far has been yes. So we will continue improving and modifying until the answer is unquestionably ‘No’.

    On the trip we had a lovely human called Ryan with us filming everything. He will be putting out videos of what we got up to. Including lots of orange eating (all shapes and sizes), toilet shopping and stargazing. It features most of the people we are working with, so it feels great that you will get to meet them all.

   This is the last day of the Indiegogo campaign. It is unreal, the amount everyone has managed to raise. Thank you a million times over for contributing and putting your faith in our project. We won’t let you down.

    Here is some of our instagram stream from our time there. It was hot - a wonderful 18 degrees C in the winter. The sun was out, hitting The Grove at 9am, and staying with us until sunset. And it was silent. So quiet. It took me a while, but Sam recognised that we had been so used to the screech of cicadas that their absence brought this amazing feeling of calm and relaxation. We are very energised, and are getting the wheels in motion so that we are ready to begin renovation works early 2016. Chris is moving from Australia in the next few weeks, so we will all be together for the first time.

       Peace, Love and Kumquats.

           The Grove Team

     

            

  

More Montenegro, in pictures!

'Allo folks! Chris here, express via undersea interweb cables from Australia.

Thought I'd share a few snaps my intrepid father took on his recent exploration of Montenegro. Perhaps they'll inspire you to book a room via our Indiegogo campaign ( indiegogo.com/projects/the-grove-montenegro#/ ). Stay tuned for exciting updates from our architects!

Lake Skadar, not far from The Grove

The Tara bridge, crossing the Tara river in the north

On the road from Zabljak to the Tara river (excellent white water rafting spot)

A footbridge to Bosnia & Herzegovina... lacking any customs or border controls!

Launch Time

Here is the link to our Indiegogo crowdsourcing campaign, where you can become a part of The Grove.


We look forward to seeing you here.

Down Time

And so here we are.

 It is November, believe it or not. We have been at work, having babies (seriously, one of us did), eating, sleeping, repeating, all 4 of us involved in this project just getting on with life. It is funny to think of The Grove, just sitting there. Housing animals and hay, the spider webs getting thicker. Being bashed by sun and rain. Just waiting patiently for someone to come and love it.

     Chris's dad visited Stari Bar just a couple of weeks ago. It is always nice to imagine other people there. There really is something magical about the spot, and we get shivers of delight knowing there is someone sitting in our garden, appreciating the serenity. Here's a photo of the mill he took from the fort, and from just across the river. It is looking particularly lush after heavy rainfall.

     The architects are supplying drawings, and we are slowly getting there with final sketches of the internals. We all are in touch almost everyday, be it through the curation of the pinterest board, skype calls or just group messaging.

   Here's a sneaky look at our pinterest board, just so you can imagine what's going through our heads.

   

       We are to begin the external structural works in January. But in order for this to happen, we are going to need your help.....

       

Last few Vidz

Chr*stmas has started properly here now in the UK. In their windows, shops have fake wrapped presents amongst cookware, cheap tinsel wrapped around sports shoes, plastic trees with bargain electronics under them. It really is magical. 

    It’s actually not.

 The seed gets planted in July. The 8th of July there were emails about chr*stmas dinners/parties. Big pubs started putting out festive displays to attract your attention to their pamphletry. There was a gosh darned fully decorated tree at the beginning of August in the Coop. Just to remind you to start saving for the celebration where you throw wads of cash at the baby jebus, hoping that it will buy you his love. It becomes a seedling mid September. ‘Where are you going to be for Christmas this year?’ ‘I’ve already done my shopping’ ’Gosh Christmas comes earlier every year.’ ‘Not a christmas catalogue already?!?’ Even it being talked about here is part of the problem.

  

   And it seems the 2nd Monday in October is the nationally agreed moment that the first buds are allowed to appear. After a quiet unassuming Sunday, i walked to work as usual, but this time i was getting walloped at every shop window with goddam glitter and foil wrapping paper. 

          So what?

One of the best things about being in Montenegro, which is not necessarily clear at the time but hits you on your return, is there are no T*scos. There are no Gr*ggs. There are no McD*nalds. There certainly aren’t any shops with stupid chr*stmas stuff in the windows in October. It’s a breath of fresh air being there (apart from when they decide to burn tyres in Bar). Literally, of course, as it’s a very outdoorsy lifestyle. But also it very much highlights just how cloned and depressing our towns are in the UK, and how we are told how to shop, how to eat. Of course there are chains in Mont of sorts - supermarkets, bakeries, etc. But it is a lot less aggressive. Chains are, without exception, ugly. Ugliness that comes from ubiquity. If you come and visit us, you will be surrounded by beauty of all sorts. The mountains, the sea, the nature. Even beauty that comes from questionable architecture (there is a lot of concrete in Bar). When travelling through, this beauty is born mostly from unfamiliarity. Curiosity. But as this lessens, it becomes a beauty that is authentic, original and sincere. We can’t wait to see you here. 

Here are a few more vids. The last look around the building, and walking the 500 metres to Stari Bar main street.

Video Tour Numba 2

Hello everyone! 

     Here is the second instalment in the video tour of The Grove, in its abandoned, decrepit state. 

          You see its perfectly formed arse in this one. And a bit more of its inner workings. 

   It’s really hot. You won’t be able to feel it, as unfortunately your screen wont blast 40 degree air in your face. But it was everywhere, the heat. Unrelenting. Bar is Europe’s sunniest city - it has the most sunlight hours per year. Solar power will help fuel our aircon, so we can cool ourselves guilt free. 

       The most magical time of the day is the evening. When Sam, Chris and I were in Montenegro to have a look at the place, we went to the fort for sunset. There was a play going on in the small amphitheatre. Looking out over Stari Bar, towards the Adriatic, the cool air flowed in bringing sweet relief to the oppressive heat. That is when the photo in the header was taken. Peace n Beauty, m8. 

       When Sophie and I were there, we arrived at 9pm. It was already pitch black. We headed to the Grove anyway. We climbed the fence into the garden (we hadn’t yet picked up the keys). We were not aware of the various equines as yet. Until we went inside and saw a shadow move. Hearts pumping we recognised the horse. Which was fine. But then more and more shadows kept appearing, walking slowly towards us. It was terrifying. The donkeys had not been there on previous visits. They moved slowly, cautiously, but definitely in our direction. When you don’t know what you are looking at, you jump to conclusions - DEFINITELY A FRIGGING GHOST ZOMBIE WEREWOLF OR SOMETHING. The adrenaline is still flowing through our veins from that moment. 

        After we got over that, we sat in silence on the lawn. The stars were so bright. The illuminated fort atop the hill. The gentle trickle of the river water. 

   We just can’t wait to be with you all. Occasionally chatting. Sharing a drink or two. Occasionally sitting in that same silence. Looking at those same stars. Occasionally listening to Milli Vanilli. Roasting a marshmallow on the fire. Eating olives. Lots of olives. Discussing what level of nothing you are going to do the following day. It’s enough to make us explode with excite. 

             For now, you will have to make do with our shitty commentary for 6 minutes at a time, as we wander around the building poking and prodding things.

            

           

STRESS but sweet relief.

SO.

      We went our separate ways, Sam, Chris and I. Chris went back home to Aus via Belgrade. We went back to Newcastle and got rained on. 

          We then put in an offer on the place.

      Adrenaline pumping through our bodies, we waited for a response.

The place had been on the market for 7 years. 7 years. And in all that time there had been one serious offer on the place, which eventually fell through. 

 One hour before we put in our offer, another British couple had put in a higher offer. 

7 years. 

7 years.

1 hour. 

We hunted for money. Asking friends and family. We could not possibly offer the asking price, and hoped that a slightly higher offer would be enough for the seller to consider letting it go to us. What we had to our advantage - we had had the building surveyed, we had a lawyer ready to go, the sale would be quick and stress free, we are nice and friendly. The offer was accepted. And we hurriedly put the deposit down, on a reservation agreement that had a clause in the sellers favour stating that they would not lose out financially if they withdrew from the sale. Something they had really fought for. 

WOW. Roller coaster right????

THE RIDE ISN'T OVER YET.


The evening after we had transferred the deposit, we received a message from the seller -

Can you pls tell Tom about the new offer for our asking price and see if he will match that? We can then sign an amendment to the reservation agreement.

The other couple had upped their offer even more, and this was enough to convince the seller to change their allegiance.

SO. 

That evening we didnt sleep. Chris mostly because it was the day time in Aus, but also we were all so super sad about the whole thing. We assumed, because of the aforementioned clause, that the seller was completely entitled to pull out. And boy was it gut wrenching. I was out with my best-friends girl-friend, watching Coltranes son honk his saxophone unconvincingly, and i was TERRIBLE company. When i got home, Sophie wouldn't stand for it. She said that we would be protected against this. Surely.

   In the morning, our Wünderlawyers got in touch. Basically saying that everything was going to be ok. That the sale would continue as planned, unless the seller wanted a long drawn out court case. Basically Sophie was right. And we were all just panicky flappy doom bringers. 

SO.

After that we sent off our power of attorneys, and they arrived a few days later. It is funny getting stuff notarised. A bonkers archaic system. But it feels nice and official. 

And then we had to borrow loads of money.

Then we nipped back to Mont to tie up a few loose ends, do things like open a bank account, give some thank you gifts out and meet the neighbours. 

At the end of it, we own this. This little patch of heaven that will be filled with so much bloody happiness in the years to come. Even after switching off for but a couple of hours, i have to convince myself again that it actually exists. That we now are in a position to do something great with this place. And that we get to work together, all of us, on this project.
Here is a first VIDEO look around the place. Video 1 of 3.