In northern Spain’s Asturias region, where jagged peaks meet chestnut groves, time folds softly around stone houses. This is where Tom and Harriet Russell, a married couple from the UK, found themselves in 2014.
The couple bought a crumbling cottage in Asturias listed for the equivalent of $1,300. The legal process was slow, but refreshingly simple compared to London's property market. Because they moved before Brexit, residency was straightforward.
The couple moved from London to remote Asturias to start a new life. The house gave them more than shelter. It gave them a rhythm.
The home gave them a place to stay, and a place for them to work. It was a place where they could share their knowledge of the world.
The author and her family moved to a small town in the U.S. to start a new life. The house is still a work in progress, but the family has made a home in the town.
What you gain is a life measured by something other than deadlines and notifications. There is time to focus, to get a job done without interruption. You can’t work locally, but you can enjoy a slower life.
Germans, Dutch, and Scandinavians continue to quietly repopulate parts of Asturias, Galicia, and the Pyrenees. The door remains wide open.
Spain is generally affordable, especially outside big cities. Housing, food, and transport cost less than in the UK or US. Locals are welcoming, and life is comfortable once you adjust.
They were exhausted — drained by the relentless pace of London life, the rising costs, and the sense of never truly “living.” When they stumbled across a dilapidated house nestled in the green mountains of Asturias, something clicked. This wasn’t just a fixer-upper. It was a chance to slow down, reconnect, and redefine what home meant. With no construction experience and only a dream, they packed up their life in the UK and took the ultimate risk — to restore an abandoned Spanish house into a living, breathing sanctuary.
➡️ Discover the emotional highs, the grueling work, and the magical transformation in their full story. Click here to read more.
