From Birmingham to Cómpeta, by way of France.

Ian and Anthony's story began, like so many on Channel 4's A New Life in the Sun, with a feeling that life had become a little too comfortable. Birmingham born and bred, the couple had built a successful bar in the city, but the daily grind had stopped exciting them. So they sold up, packed up and headed for the medieval village of Caunes-Minervois in southern France, where they spent the next four years running a charming five-bedroom chambre d'hôte in a townhouse just off the main square.

The cameras first caught them mid-summer, sweating through 34-degree heat as they juggled breakfasts for fourteen, eleven beds to make and a French wedding on in the village. They had it down to a fine art — Anthony's bed-making technique, honed across what he reckoned was ten thousand turnarounds, was a sight to behold; Ian's fried egg breakfasts had made the place a hit on TripAdvisor. But Anthony, who had originally wanted Spain all along, was getting itchy feet.

The pair set themselves a brief: a B&B near Málaga, thirty minutes from the coast, with a pool. Non-negotiable. The first property hunt was a heartbreaker. Despite the best efforts of estate agents Brennan and Andrew — themselves expats living the dream — none of the seven or eight houses ticked the boxes. Vacas Gordas in Castel de Ferro had charm but a terrifying access road. Villa Fuente offered a “cubist apartment” that turned out to be the garage.

They flew home to France empty-handed, sold their townhouse anyway, threw a tearful farewell party complete with Spanish-themed burgers and DJ Max Müller, and drove twelve hours south with no roof over their heads and three months to find one.

Forty viewings later, Cómpeta won them over. A pretty hillside village in the Axarquía, 638 metres up, with a 16th-century church anchoring the main square and the Mediterranean visible from the rooftops. They paid roughly €267,000 for a five-floor wreck and christened it Casa Jardín. The plan was a four-bedroom guest house with their own apartment tucked alongside.

Optimistic timeline: open by September.

Reality had other plans. Spanish trades were booked out for a year and quoting triple. Ian ended up doing most of the manual work himself — chiselling through solid rock for cabling, rebuilding walls, learning plumbing as he went. Anthony took a job cleaning villas to keep the cash flowing. September became November became the following spring became another spring.

Two and a half years on, Casa Jardín finally opened its doors. Four en-suite bedrooms, a breakfast pergola, a rooftop bar with 360-degree mountain and sea views, and a pool in what had been a wilderness.

The first guests came in June 2024. Within six weeks they were turning people away. Their first repeat guest from France pronounced it had exceeded all expectations.

Hardest thing they'd ever done, they both agreed. And not for a single second did they regret it.