My Own Home takes you inside a reader-owned property to ask how much they paid, why they decided to buy and what they have done with it since moving in
Polish entrepreneur Ania Bruno, co-owner of tour operator Adventurous Camel, has been living in the UAE on and off since 2009 but decided to settle here after buying a property in Ras Al Khaimah in 2022.
Ms Bruno lives in a three-bedroom townhouse in Al Hamra Village with her husband and two children, having moved to the emirate from Abu Dhabi in 2020.
While they've historically moved country or city every two-and-a-half years, Ms Bruno says they're happy to settle in Ras Al Khaimah, and even plan on adding an extra floor to their new home.
The National has a look around.
Please tell us about your home
It’s a three/four-bedroom townhouse because, on the first floor, we have a second lounge that we’ve turned into a bedroom. We have a single garage and a sizeable garden.
When did you buy the house?
We bought it two years ago initially as an investment. We never planned to move into it. We have a few investment properties in Al Hamra Village, and then a year-and-a-half ago we decided that we couldn’t stand our landlord.
We were renting a much bigger property and the prices of rent started going really high, so we decided to downsize and move into our own home.
We took the summer to renovate and then moved in October.
How much did you buy it for?
We bought it for Dh1,050,000 when everything was very, very low. Now it’s worth about Dh2.3 million.
Al Hamra Village is 5km away from the casino and it’s the first housing development, and everything else that’s planned in the area is apartments, so it will continue to go up.
People like to buy older properties so that once they’re renovated, they’ve got bigger rooms and bigger gardens when you compare them to everything that gets built now.
What renovations have you done?
We’ve renovated the three bathrooms. We moved a window in the kitchen so it was in the middle and gave lots of light. We also moved the sink, changed the worktops and tiles, and painted it. So we semi-renovated the kitchen – it’s not where I want it to be yet.
We also extended the patio in the garden and built a pergola. We closed the garage and built a mezzanine in the garage for storage.
Now we’re planning on extending it up and building a third floor. At the moment, our first floor has the kitchen, bathroom, living and dining rooms, then the second floor has all the bedrooms and bathrooms – now we want to build another floor. It’s cheaper than buying a bigger house.
We’ve spent about Dh150,000 on renovations so far.
How would you describe your interior design style?
I like rustic and boho, and I don’t like things that are not made out of wood, but with the renovations, we went for something slightly neutral that appeals to most people. I always think about if we rent it or sell it, we don’t want to go for anything that will put people off.
The only statement thing we have is in the downstairs bathroom, I put jungle wallpaper. I just wanted it to pop a bit.
Why did you choose this neighbourhood?
When we were moving to RAK, we only had two options – either Al Hamra Village or Mina Al Arab. Mina is newer, but the quality of the build within the houses is slightly worse – and the area is dead.
We live in a very, very small village in RAK and everybody knows everybody. I’m more of a city girl, so I wanted to see people. We’d been here for a week and had gone to both places at different times to see what was happening around the areas, and Mina was just so quiet.
I also prefer the layout of the homes. So, in the end, we chose the place where people go outside and use the pools. There’s also a mall next door and there’s a primary school based in the village.
How long do you plan to live in this house?
That's a tricky question, because we are one of those families that changes country, or at least a town, every maybe two-and-a-half years on average. But now I don't think we're going anywhere. I think we're done.
Now we're running the business, and it's growing and we base it on Ras Al Khaimah because it's a very unknown emirate and it's nice. There are a lot of people coming here who are being sold a holiday to Dubai. It’s not Dubai, so we're trying to educate them.
You never know, we're always open to moving, but we are happy. Every time I have to drive to Dubai, it's just too busy and I’ve got so lazy that driving somewhere for 20 minutes is too far.
The five pillars of Islam
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster with a decades-long career in TV. He has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others. Karam is also the founder of Takreem.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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Empty Words
By Mario Levrero
(Coffee House Press)
SPEC%20SHEET
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Key features of new policy
Pupils to learn coding and other vocational skills from Grade 6
Exams to test critical thinking and application of knowledge
A new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance, Assessment, Review and Analysis for Holistic Development) will form the standard for schools
Schools to implement online system to encouraging transparency and accountability
WTL%20SCHEDULE
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Habib El Qalb
Assi Al Hallani
(Rotana)
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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LAST-16 FIXTURES
Sunday, January 20
3pm: Jordan v Vietnam at Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai
6pm: Thailand v China at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: Iran v Oman at Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Monday, January 21
3pm: Japan v Saudi Arabia at Sharjah Stadium
6pm: Australia v Uzbekistan at Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
9pm: UAE v Kyrgyzstan at Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tuesday, January 22
5pm: South Korea v Bahrain at Rashid Stadium, Dubai
8pm: Qatar v Iraq at Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi
India squad for fourth and fifth Tests
Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rahul, Shaw, Pujara, Rahane (vc), Karun, Karthik (wk), Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Pandya, Ishant, Shami, Umesh, Bumrah, Thakur, Vihari
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