My Own Home: Entrepreneur sells Luxembourg business and buys Dh880,000 home in Dubai’s JVT

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

Marie Guerre, a Luxembourgish-French financial adviser, and her husband Renaud Kieffer, a private pilot, moved from Luxembourg to their new home in Dubai only two weeks after seeing it.

They had sold their private members’ car club business, which was based in Luxembourg, in 2021 and Ms Guerre decided she wanted to move somewhere sunny. After travelling the world to find the perfect location, they settled on the UAE. Within the Emirates, it was Jumeirah Village Triangle that had the home they wanted.

After looking at more than 10 properties, they bought the Dh880,000 ($240,000) one-bedroom apartment in Zazen One – where they now live with their dog Milo – which they fell in love with because of how well the building was finished.

The National takes a look around.

Please tell us about your home

We have a one-bedroom corner unit that is 925 square feet. Having a corner unit is nice because even when the sun is almost gone over to the other side of the building, we still have the corner that has some light.

How much did it cost?

We bought it for Dh880,000. Now I think it’s worth Dh1.2 million or Dh1.3 million, maybe even more because we did some enhancements. Two-beds are selling for Dh1.8 million to Dh1.9 million.

Why did you buy instead of renting?

We had never owned a property. We were always renting everywhere we lived, so it was important to us that we buy the roof over our head. It was security. We had sold our company and we had the money. So what do you do with the money? You buy your security. You buy a roof over your head.

What renovations have you done?

In most of the apartments, the door frames and the kitchen cupboards were made of dark wood, which I don’t like. So we did everything in white about a year after we moved in. The darker the colour inside the apartment, the smaller it makes it seem.

We put double-glazed windows in the bedroom for noise insulation. We have an open view, but are just next to Al Khail, so you can hear the traffic, and I'm used to sleeping in absolute silence. These windows decreased the decibel levels in the bedroom massively. Before I had to sleep with earplugs, now I don’t.

In the kitchen, we put in a big rectangular sink and increased [the size of ] that area – I was still getting rid of dust after two months because they had to cut into the stone, but it’s much more elegant.

We also changed all the lights in the apartment and installed a French design. They make the room more airy. The next thing we're going to do is change the wallpaper. It was my choice but I don’t like it any more. I think the apartment will be even lighter if it’s just normal off-white.

We spent between Dh70,000 and Dh80,000.

How would you describe your interior-design style?

We wanted to go modern, minimalist, kind of Swedish, to be more zen. We have white and leather and wood. It feels quite bright and I’m trying to put some plants in but they tend to die on me.

What facilities do you have?

We have a nice swimming pool with a kids’ pool. We have a barbecue area, a communal garden, a nice gym and a kids’ play area.

There's also a study room, so people with kids who try to work from home can go and work there. And there’s a residents’ lounge, where there’s a TV, you have a library and a pool table. You can meet your neighbours there or even invite your friends over.

The rooftop is quite nice as well, because on one side is the barbecue area, while the other part is a smaller, more private space that you can book. I like to do raclette with friends on the rooftop. It’s nice.

Why did you choose this neighbourhood?

When we were looking for a place to live, I had one requirement – I wanted sun. We began looking in Spain, in Portugal ... I even looked at Latin America, everywhere where you have sunshine and we wanted to pay in cash. I also wanted to be near the sea. The place that we found that fitted all our requirements was here in Dubai.

We came here in January 2022, we stayed two weeks, we visited 10 apartments or so. When we saw this one, it took us a day. We paid the deposit. It was still off-plan but almost finished. We booked the following day to go back home, sold everything and came back two weeks later.

We chose the neighbourhood for the residence.

What did you love about this building?

It was nicer quality. Out of all the apartments we visited, all the lobbies were just big halls, with no windows, no paintings, really clinical. In the lobby here, you leave the elevators and already you have windows and you have natural light. To me, natural light is so important, not only in the apartment, but also in the common areas, because you need to be comfortable everywhere.

We have a view of Burj Khalifa from very, very far when it's not hazy. But it was also really important for us not to have a tower right in front of us for privacy.

What do you like about JVT?

JVT is just fantastic for the amenities. You have the padel courts, you have a number of parks, you have three dog parks, which is really convenient.

You can go to Palm Jumeirah or Dubai Marina without taking Al Khail Road, without taking the highway, which is a big plus when you compare with other communities where you have to get on the highway to go anywhere you need.

How long do you plan to live in this property?

We have a golden visa, so I know we can stay in Dubai until that runs out. I was thinking maybe we are going to move into a two-bedroom, but we spent so much and really made the place our own, so I think next time we move it is going to be to another country.

For now, we know the community, we know the neighbours, we have our routine. We have settled. We have the Carrefour, the Spinney’s, and I have my yoga studio.