Family is everything: a house abroad can allow families to bond like nowhere else, away from the distractions of ordinary life
Mr Fawcett says this is just one reason why it' s better to buy reasonably close to a decent city or somewhere more vibrant. Swimming pools, tennis courts and plenty of bedrooms are also important, as is being within cycling distance of a decent village. The concept of legacy homes covers many
emotional drives. Mr Fawcett points to the number of homes in upscale Tuscan resorts owned by Americans of Italian ancestry, eager to explore their family' s past. Another factor behind buying legacy homes abroad is that ` people today are so much more cosmopolitan. They' re also likely to marry someone from, say, France or Italy whom they met in London, and then they' ll want a home in their spouse' s birth country' . In a sense, the idea of legacy homes for
generational communities in the style of Oil Nut Bay was first developed by the British on the north-east corner of Corfu. Families
www.countrylife.co.uk/international
such as the Glenconners started the influx of members of the British aristocracy to the island back in the 1960s, and it has since been dubbed ` Kensington on Sea' . Andrew Langton, director of Aylesford Inter- national, has had a home there for more than 20 years. Mr Langton is also a good case study for legacy in terms of the deep- ened relationships within a family and the wider community that such a home brings to a family. ` We' ve brought up three child- ren in what to them as youngsters was complete paradise. They' ve developed a fantastic outdoor life, and it has given them a quality of life that they never would have had in, say, rural Dorset.' As teenagers, the Langton children brought
along friends who still say it was the best holiday they ever had. Now, Mr Langton' s son Harry has become involved in selling prop- erty on the island that he knows so well.
NEED TO KNOW
Locations to please all generations Mallorca The island' s infrastructure allows easy access to Palma' s lively nightlife
Ibiza Elders can stay in the quieter north far from where the young dance to the thumping beats of the famous nightclubs
Saint-Tropez Make sure you' re within reach of Club 55, the yachts and the glamour
North-east Corfu There are fantastic beaches, watersports for all ages (and plenty of noisy resorts for the rest)
Italy The hills around Lucca give easy access to skiing, the coast and Pisa air- port, and the A1 runs north to Florence and south to Rome from Orvieto in Umbria
Barbados It has enough beaches, golf courses and parties to suit all ages
Country Life International, Spring 2011 59
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