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A PLACE IN THE SUN MAGAZINE
Buying Foreign Property: Our Place In Austria
Jodi Venner talks us through the rules and regulations involved in building an eco resort in the Austrian ski fields – and explains how the romantic
novelist Barbara Cartland helped her marry the local ski instructor!
By Mollie McGuigan
My name is Jodi Venner and I am
42. I live in an alpine chalet in the district of Lungau, Austria with my
husband, Herbie, 43, and our two
daughters, Jess, 13, and Flori, 11.
My first visit to Austria was in
1991, for a holiday. I had a very
stressful job in Northampton,
running restaurants, and I needed
to get away. My friend offered me some
work at his ski school in Lungau and
I jumped at the chance.
I returned to Lungau the following
year and took my ski exams. A
friend found me lodgings with a local
ski instructor called Herbie – and six
years later, we had two children!
During my pregnancies I kept
skiing, cycling and running. After
my first daughter was born, I worked
in the local golf shop. I put my
daughter in a trailer, attached it to my
bike and took her to work with me.
Herbie and I won our wedding
through the local English radio
station. Entrants had to write a piece
of prose on the importance of marriage
and it was judged by the romantic
novelist, Barbara Cartland. Herbie and
I both wrote in, and my article won.
Over here, weddings are huge
occasions – the whole village is
invited – and we didn’t want that.
Instead, we sent the children to stay
with my mother, went off to the
Dominican Republic and got married
on the beach. Our friend, who’s also
a ski instructor, came out with his
partner and got married too. It was
fantastic – exactly what we wanted
– and the whole thing was paid for
by the radio station!
Herbie is a very talented carpenter,
so we designed our own home together.
We wanted a traditional house but
nothing too twee. We sourced local
wood and went down to the valley with
the lumberjacks to choose the trees.
It was a hands-on event – my brother
bought a one-way ticket, came over
to help us and never left.
We have six bedrooms, three
bathrooms and a basement/cellar that runs
the whole length of the house. We
also have a loft, which we plan to
convert when our daughters reach
the terrible teens stage – they can
have the whole floor to themselves!
In 2006, a plot of land next to our
home came up for sale and my dad
sold one of his homes in the UK
to help us buy it. The planning
permission process is very longwinded
in Austria, particularly if
you’re an outsider. Eventually, we got
planning permission for St Martin
Chalets – a group of ten chalets, a spa
facility and a wellness centre.
Our development is an eco resort:
we source materials locally, our
generator is run off plant oil and we
are CO2 neutral. Being ecologically
friendly is something we strongly
believe in – it’s only a little more
expensive and it makes a huge
difference. It can be a hassle, though. At the moment we’re sourcing
materials for landscaping the grounds,
and rather than going to a quarry we
are looking for reclaimed local stone.
The chalets start at €338,000
(£265,050) and take 17 weeks to
build. So far, we’ve sold five and have
two under offer. To comply with local
bylaw, owners must rent the chalets
for part of the year, so we manage
and rent them out on their behalf.
At the moment I’m head of activity
and sport at the local hotel, but once
we sell the chalets I will take on the
management of them full-time. The
annual running costs of a chalet are
€7,500 (£5,885), and we take 15 per
cent of the rental fees.
I am completely settled in Austria
– I consider myself Austrian and I
speak fluent German. I love the sense
of community here and the mountains
attract me; I feel at home with them.
Want to know more about Jodi and
Herbie's chalets? Call 0043 664 4961
502 or visit www.stmartinchalets.at.
