John and Charlotte Lincoln in Fornalutx, Majorca, Spain.
We'll be moving to this 12th century village in September.
Dear Yale Club Friends,
Well, Charlotte and I have been back in Santa Barbara for a week now — not enough to get over the jet lag, but enough so that I can write you this email.
As you may know, at the end of April, a series of extraordinary events happened in our lives. I chanced upon a web page that showed a little house "For Sale" in the village of Fornalutx, on the Spanish island of Majorca. This was the place where Charlotte and I met in 1971, and spent a very happy 6 months. It was (and still is) an enchanted place. We brought our children there in 1990, and returned again in 1997, to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. And so, when I saw that little Majorcan house "For Sale"… with our kids now grown up and on their own… a year after selling the business that we built, and ran, for 25 years… with our Montecito home too big for our needs or our lifestyle… well, what could we do? We dropped everything, and flew to Majorca to inspect the house. (That's why I was absent from the Yale Club event on May 13.) Naturally, it was all irresistible, and so we bought the place.
What a house! (Call it "rustic.")
It overlooks the12th century village of Fornalutx from across the valley. It's halfway up the side of a mountain. The mountainside is carved with 1,000-year-old terraces, planted with endless rows of ancient olive trees. The house is perched among them, offering a magnificent view of valley below and the surrounding mountains. The house is on 2+ acres, and comes with 170 olive trees. All day, and all night, flocks of sheep roam among the olive trees across the valley, up and down the mountainside, their silver bells tinkling peacefully. In the morning, roosters crow. In the evening, the barking sheep dog brings the sheep down the mountain. From the plaza in the village far below, comes the chime of the clock in the church tower — ringing every quarter hour, and striking the hour twice, to ensure that workers in faraway fields can know the time.
No matter that the house lacks electricity, or telephone, or running water. It has a generator, and a large cistern of sweet water under the terrace. They tell us that the septic tank is reliable. There's a gas stove that burns propane from a transportable tank. Charlotte and I are very happy there. The beach is 15 minutes away, and there's a golf course just 20 minutes away. Shopping? There are stores in the village, and "super-stores" in the capital, Palma, just 30 minutes away. The super-stores are triple the size of Costco; fully stocked with endless aisles of food, drink, etc. By the way, the cost of living is about 1/3 what we are used to in S.B.
The house has a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, hallway, and large living room with wood-burning furnace. High ceilings! There's an iron gate at the foot of the driveway, whose purpose is more than decorative; it must be closed against the sheep that roam the hills, to stop them visiting the garden to eat the flowers! The view is awe-inspiring. The couple we bought the house from are Australian painters; their house is itself a work of art. Their "main house" is in the village, and they'll be staying on. Wonderful people.
So, we bought it. And we extended our trip two weeks, to get it set up for living.
We bought some furniture from a German in the next village who was moving out. Bought some more from Ikea in Palma. Started meeting the other foreigners/expatriots who hang out in the plaza cafes (there are many international residents there, coming and going, throughout the year). We made some new friends: Australians, Germans, Swedes, South Africans, Brits — who own property in Fornalutx, and love the place as we do
The summer is hot there; the name "Fornalutx" comes froma Majorcan word for "oven." It fills up with tourists in the summer. That's good for business, but an intrusion for the residents, who prefer the tranquility of the off-season. So we're in Santa Barbara now, for the summer, to sell our house, and find something smaller here. We'll return to Majorca in the fall, to live for an extended period.
It's been pretty hectic, but also enlivening.
What this means for the Yale Club is that I must resign my position as president, effective immediately . I thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be of service, these past three years. Thank you to Clifford, and to Jack and Michael, and Wim. Thank you to Phil and Ann and Barbara, to Mimi and Virginia. Thanks to everyone who contributed their material to the Yale Club web site. Thank you for everyone who shared their time, and energy, and money, for Yale Club events. Thank you for sharing your homes!
It has been a privilege to serve as Yale Club president, and my term is now completed. I am pleased to have produced a series of social an cultural events over the past three years — and that not one of them ever lost money for the Yale Club of Santa Barbara treasury. The result is that our Yale Club has been able to contribute to a Scholarship Fund for local Yale students.
My term as Yale Club president is over. It's been fun. Thank you.
For now, my first priority is to bring electricity to our rustic house in the mountains of Majorca. When that's done, I'll install my computer, get on the web, and send you an email. The internet is proliferating all over Europe; on Majorca, the local telephone company is offering unlimited access (dial-up @ 56K) for $10 per month. Take that, AOL!
After we get settled, I'll write — maybe an eBook, with audio and video, animation and 3D. In my spare time, I plan to rebuild the fallen stone walls that make terraces on my hillside. And I'm going to catch up on my reading (there won't be a TV in our home). What a good opportunity to read "Don Quixote"!
The house came with approved plans for building an addition, and we plan to get this started right away. We're going to combine the best part of the Old World with the best part of the New World — and call it Home.
Best wishes,
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Curious? Here are a few pictures of our new home in Fornalutx, Majorca: