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
Well-known British therapist and bestselling author Marisa Peer, whose signature approach is known as Rapid Transformational Therapy, moved from Los Angeles to Dubai in November 2023 after an eye-opening work trip earlier that year.
Within a few months, Ms Peer and her husband had moved into a five-bedroom villa in Al Barari, which they bought for Dh14 million. While they love the neighbourhood, their neighbours and the property, beachside living is also calling, and now the couple is considering a move to Palm Jumeirah.
She has no intentions of leaving the UAE, however, which she said is the safest country she has ever lived in.
The National takes a look around her property.
Please tell us about your home.
It’s very, very modern. It’s what I call a glass box – the first thing I had to do when we moved in was buy lots of curtains, because it's so bright. I do like it, though.
It's very open, with more windows than walls, and it's got stairs in the middle of the house, which I love. You can stand at the bottom of the stairs and look up to the third floor. There's no hallway, so the kitchen, the lounge, the dining room and the stairs are all in one big room. It's got a very nice tree in the middle of the room, an olive tree, because apparently that's a very good thing to have in an Arab house.
We have a swimming pool in the garden. I've never actually had a swimming pool before, even though I lived in LA for six years, but I love having a pool. I swim a lot, almost every day.
And then on the next floor, it's got two bedrooms and I made a bedroom into a gym. I love having a gym at home. On the top floor, we knocked a room out and have one big bedroom with two bathrooms and a lovely, huge terrace.
Why did you choose this neighbourhood?
When I lived in LA, I lived on a canal in Venice Beach, and I loved paddle boarding. So, the reason we bought here was because it's on a lagoon and you can paddle board every day.
Also, before we moved here, I was asked to do some work on Real Housewives of Dubai as a therapist, and they all seem to live here. Caroline Stanbury and Nina Ali lived here, so we came to see it, and we absolutely loved it, because it's so green.
My thing about Dubai was, could I move to somewhere where it's not green and nobody walks? I love Business Bay, but I do like to have a nice bit of greenery as I’m very English. They call it the Switzerland of Dubai because it's so green.
What is your favourite thing about Al Barari?
It’s very quiet. You wake up to birds singing. The neighbours are amazing. There's always a dinner party, a lunch party, a brunch.
I would say my neighbours first, as they've just welcomed us with open arms and been so incredibly friendly and lovely, then peace and quiet second, and the fact it's very green and lush.
What renovations have you done?
Not much. We knocked one wall and turned two bedrooms into one. It’s a new build, so it's not like when you buy someone else's house in the UK and you start changing it all. We didn't really need to do anything. It's pretty much brand-new and very nice.
How would you describe your interior design style?
Very contemporary. I'm one of those people who has white sofas, white bed linen, lots and lots of plants, candles. I have this really amazing glass dining table, and the chairs around are all furry.
We shipped all our stuff from LA with us, because we spent a while getting really amazing furniture that we love. So there’s a lot of glass, a lot of white and a lot of natural wood. There’s nothing antique in here.
I picked it all myself. I never understood when people come and ask, “Who did your house once?” It's my house, I picked that. We travel so much, and for a while we'd bring something back from every country. We’d put it on a shelf and go, “Look, that's what we got in Bali”, and I quite like that. It is very much our style that we curated ourselves.
How long do you plan to stay in this house for?
I don’t know. We love it here, but we do think occasionally we might like to go and live on the beach. I was just in Kerala over Christmas, and every day I got up and lay in a hammock and read the paper on my laptop. And I thought, “Wow, actually, this living on a beach is amazing”. So, we're thinking of actually moving to Palma Residences on Palm Jumeirah, because now I'm thinking, even when I lived in LA, I lived on the water, but I didn't live on a beach.
The only thing I don't love about Al Barari is you don't have a lot of choice of restaurants and cafes, and the traffic can be a bit of a pain. So, we're now thinking we may move to Palma Residences, which is right at the beginning of the Palm, and [experience] beach life.
How long will you stay in the UAE?
Probably forever. I love it here. It has almost everything that Los Angeles had – the only thing I miss is I can't walk around. But then, on the other hand, it's so safe here. There's no crime. I love that. And the people are much friendlier because there's no crime, so everyone's wandering around feeling safe.
Even when it's really hot, it's just like being in London when it's really cold. Although last year when we came back in August, our air conditioning broke down on the second night, and trying to sleep in that heat was really hard. But I could actually go out and sleep in my garden on one of the couches. I could never sleep in my garden in LA or London. I'd be terrified, but I felt completely safe. I've never had that anywhere in the world.
I don't love the traffic here, but I do love that it's all so different. People think it's a concrete jungle here, but you can go to Fujairah or Abu Dhabi and go to the salt flats, the mangroves, the mountains. You can drive to Oman and swim with dolphins. You can find nature here and it's beautiful.
We don't live that bling lifestyle. We go round to friend’s houses and have barbecues. They have children, they have dogs and it's all very nice. It's almost like being in the countryside [in England], but with the heat.
The choice of restaurants is also extraordinary and I love that you can buy anything and have it delivered. It's extraordinary. It's like it's all designed to make your life very easy.
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
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Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
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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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match info
Southampton 2 (Ings 32' & pen 89') Tottenham Hotspur 5 (Son 45', 47', 64', & 73', Kane 82')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
