Our Home

In Abu Dhabi expats either live in a modern tower apartment building or a villa. Villas can be built individually or on compounds with shared recreation facilities. We chose to live on a compound so that we could have easy access to a swimming pool, and hopefully meet other families.

This is our compound. There are about 150 villas in our compound. 

They all look basically identical from the outside with date palms and big front courtyards. (The biggest villas have subterranean parking and elevators!) The place could seriously use the help of a landscape architect - there is almost no shade on the streets!

This is our neighborhood. 

Toss a coin in any direction and you'll hit a mosque. Or a palace.

We hear the call to prayer 5 times a day. When Pau hears it he says, "Mosque!"

Here is our villa - the second from the left.
That's our giant vehicle. . . . the beloved Mitsubishi Pajero parked in front.
(We are the lucky ones on the block because we inherited the shade structure from the previous tenants. )

On the ground floor our villa has a giant playroom/living room (shown here), dining room, half bathroom and kitchen. There is a large front courtyard with a tiny "driver's room" with bathroom. And, the awesome backyard. The stairwell is like an atrium so the house is filled with natural light. Upstairs there are 4 bedrooms (!) and 2 bathrooms. Up more stairs there is a laundry room, storage room, and a maid's room with bathroom. Most of the bedrooms have their own balconies. The house is enormous and beautiful! It is great for running around and for dancing. We are happy that we waited so long for this place!

Coloring at our art table in the play room.

First siesta in the dining room.

Stay posted for more views as the house evolves. . .