Villa Elia II in Polop: your own pool, your own roof and nobody overhead

The fifth summer by the sea

Picture a couple who have been coming to the coast for several years and rent a flat in a tall building by the sea. They are fine: the beach is close, restaurants downstairs, everything at hand. But every morning starts with footsteps overhead, by ten there are no free loungers at the shared pool, and in the evening someone else's TV comes through from the next balcony.

At some point one of them says: «I want a house of our own. Not a bigger flat, a house where only the sky is above us». The other answers carefully: «A house with a pool by the sea costs as much as a plane». That is how the search begins.

Silence at the foot of the mountains

Polop sits ten kilometres from the sea at the foot of the mountains, and the first thing you notice coming from Benidorm is the silence. In the old town square 221 spouts of drinking water from mountain springs flow: the fountain started in 1885 with eleven spouts and took its present form in 1976.

Villa Elia II stands in the Novapolop estate, on Calle Nimega. It is one villa from a series of six houses, on a 432-metre plot. Past the gate there is a concrete pad for two cars, landscaping with decorative stone and a 6 by 3 metre pool.

Three questions at the gate

The couple go into the house and the doubts come straight away.

«Isn't the sea far?» The nearest beach is nine and a half kilometres away, about a quarter of an hour by car. But when your own pool is right by the house, you go to the sea for the mood, not just for a dip.

«And won't the house be hot in summer?» Noon in July: one press of a button, the electric shutters come down, the living room is in half-light and the heat stays behind the double glazing.

«And in winter?» Underfloor heating is installed in the bathrooms, and in January it is pleasant to step on it barefoot.

The roof

Then they go upstairs. The roof of the villa is a solarium laid with non-slip porcelain tile, and from here you see the whole plot: the pool, the barbecue area, your own car by the gate. Below, the pool lights come on. There is nobody above, and nobody below. «This is it», says the one who had the most doubts.

Ten in the morning, your own lounger

Ten in the morning. There are two loungers by the pool and both are free: there are no others here. Nobody walks overhead, above there is only the solarium and the sky. They drink their coffee right by the water, the towel dries on their own fence, and when the pool lights come on in the evening no one's TV comes through the wall. This evening belongs to them alone.

What is inside

Inside, the living room, dining room and kitchen are one space, with three bedrooms with built-in wardrobes and two bathrooms. The kitchen comes furnished with a quartz or granite worktop, the bathrooms have Grohe-level fittings with furniture and mirrors, and there is porcelain tile throughout.

The pool is made of sprayed concrete with lighting, the solarium is laid with non-slip porcelain tile, the front door is armoured, and the windows have a thermal break and double glazing. Ducting for air conditioning is already in place.

Now let's do the numbers

VAT of 10% and stamp duty are added to the price, plus the notary and registry.

By notarised sales, the average new home in Polop over the year cost 469,624 euros for 126 metres, 3,721 euros a metre. The metre* at Villa Elia II comes out a little lower because it counts the solarium; by the house alone it would be 5,440 euros, above the average, and the reason is clear: the average covers all new houses and flats in the town, while this villa's price also includes 432 metres of land and its own pool, which are not in the metre at all. Polop is also the fastest-growing market among the towns in the area I follow: notary prices rose 39.6% in a year, and almost every second sale in the town is a house, not a flat.

Who is nearby

Just over two kilometres away, already in La Nucía, Vila Natura is on sale: a three-bedroom villa with its own 5 by 3 metre pool for 590,000 euros, a 106-metre house on a 413-metre plot. For almost the same money Villa Elia II gives more: a plot 19 metres bigger and a pool a metre longer.

In Polop itself, 2.6 kilometres away, there is Bay View: a two-bedroom villa with a 135-metre garden and a solarium from 525,700 euros. It is cheaper, but there is no private pool in the price and one bedroom fewer. If you need a pool by the house and a third bedroom for children or guests, Elia II is the closer fit.

Who it suits

A couple tired of the neighbours upstairs who want to live in their own house all year and drive to the sea for the mood. A family with a child who needs a third bedroom and a safe yard where the pool is visible from the kitchen. And those looking for a holiday home with an eye on the future: Polop gained more in price over the year than any town where I follow sales.

What next

If you recognised yourselves in this couple, write to me: I will send the house plan, photos and the full purchase calculation with taxes, and if you are on the coast, I will show you the villa in person. Your price is the same as at the sales office. Why you are better off with me than without me.