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Nuvali, A Future Country Home

country homeThe green landscape just took my breath away as we drove on to the countryside. The gust of wind sent a shiver down my spine. I love this place, I thought as we inspected the Sta. Rosa property in Laguna. The fresh countryside air is the best gift that I can ever give my family. Three family members are asthma prone and this is the ideal family home for us, as I hugged my husband. The year was January 2000. While my husband and I poured over the layout of the house, Luijoe was a bit distressed to see that he had his own room which I labeled “Luijoe”. He took my pencil and wrote Luijoe in OUR bedroom. “That’s where I am going to sleep”, he showed an impish grin.

Oh well, he is not ready to move to his own room. I looked at my husband.

Luijoe ran to the cul-de sac and romped on the greenery beside the house as it was slowly being constructed. The move to our country home was scheduled for April 2001.

The plan was simple enough. Lauren and M will finish high school somewhere in the south of Manila while Luijoe would study in Don Bosco at Sta. Rosa. When the girls are in college, they will live in dormitories and drive home for a weekend stay in our country home.

Destiny had other plans for us.

When Luijoe died in May of 2000, we totally squashed the expansion plans to just three bedrooms instead of four. I knew Luijoe wanted to have his room with us. The plans to move in was totally shelved. Dazed and confused, we signed the housing loan barely two weeks after his death. The stress of his death, moving to a new home seemed such a formidable task. Besides, the two girls would soon be in college in a few years time. On top of that, I felt that I didn’t see a future with my husband. There was no need to move now to the countryside or to a new home for that matter. I just had no energy to pursue my dream country home with the white picket fence.

You know what happened? The house construction was done in April 2001. For the next 3 years, we did not do anything about our lovely home until we rented it out on April 2004. Despite our grief, we never missed our monthly amortization. I would have expected the place to be run-down or cannibalized but no…Since it was an Ayala Land property, the village association religiously cut the grass and secured the place for us. when we inspected the house 3 years later, we were impressed that the exterior of our house still looked brand-new. As you might know, the adverse weather conditions in the Philippines can totally ruin the house’ facade.

As most of you know, my husband and I had a second wind in our married life and the future seemed bright once again. See, how a positive attitude transforms into positive actions?

We purchased a neo-french inspired house early this year which was nearer the school of the kids and moved in on March 18, 2007. We’re very happy in our new home but my husband is itching and raving about building another house and decorating it. I imagine myself 10 years from now retiring in the countryside and just taking it easy. I will let my husband do the interior-design this time.

nuvaliSo when I was invited to the Press launch of Ayala Land’s Nuvali Evoliving located at Sta. Rosa/Canlubang area, I was extremely excited that this new real estate development could be our future retirement home. ““In terms of size, it’s about 8 times the size of the Makati Central Business District, and is roughly an hour away from Makati. The development is well connected but is also the gateway to Region 4 — so we feel that its size and its location will really make NUVALI a metropolis that has strong regional connections,” shares Jim Ayala, President of Ayala Land. I got to be invited as one of Ayala Land’s accredited real estate brokers and that just made me even more enthusiastic about the project.

So guess where my husband and I will invest next?

Check out Why I will Invest and Live in Nuvali. Maybe you might want to be my neighbors?

6 thoughts on “Nuvali, A Future Country Home”

  1. I also have draems in retiring in the countryside when my children (or most of them) have flown the coop. Somewhere not too far from Metro Manila. But far enough from the bustle and the pollution. I’d say somewhere Tanay, Teresa or thereabouts. Of course, the place should have internet accessibility too. haha

  2. There’s this theme subdivision in Laguna that has different sectors that follow particular motifs – the japanese and balinese areas really caught my eye. I think it’s South Forbes or something. hehe. There’s no point to buying houses in Laguna though, my family’s already living in a rural area in Batangas.

  3. Re Annamanila: Hubby wants to have a small self-sustaining lot somewhere Tanay too.We love the place that’s why we frequent the place as often as we can.

    Sta.Rosa is one of the hubs emerging as a weekend retreat/home. Far from the maddening crowd of the metro. But then maybe in a few years time, that place would be bustling too.

  4. Hi Noemi, I would love to be your neighbor, ha ha. I’ve been planning to move in the South, maybe somewhere in Tagaytay or Sta. Rosa area bec. all my kids have asthma, and the only cure/solution is to relocate. I will definitely check Nuvali soon.

  5. hello, gud day!
    when I first read about nuvali in iqnuirer, I thought this was the ideal community I’m drawing in my head and literally sketching in my pads…earth friendly and everything I thought a sustainable country should be..the dream home I would gift my mother (when i get the means) and live in with my family…
    But then my mother died….and my dreams died with her…you wish you’d recover, but then you never do…coz deep inside you’re holding, afraid you’d forget…still waiting to wake up,and wishing today is the dream, and yesterday was the reality…still regretting not giving her a better home.
    Just 2 months later, just when we thought we’d start healing, my father was almost taken from us by aneurysm…sleepless nights waiting in the ICU for a week or so, shook whatever dreams left, out of me…but then the Good Lord gives you a miracle every now and then. My father survived the 60/40, not 50/50 condition..
    Now 4 months later, stronger in faith… I rediscovered the desire for a better life… a dream house…I just put down a reservation fee for a modest town house somewhere in sta. rosa, it’s not nuvali, but it’s what I can afford right now…(we’re still paying the hospital bills)…
    …still can remember my mama’s last words (or more like last sign language or mouthing the words) in the hospital to me, “matulog ka na,”…maybe so I can dream again….
    maybe when I wake up, we’ll be neighbors…haaaiz…

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