08/31/2026
It's A Dream Come True!!!!! 🙌🏽🇵🇷🥰🌺
One thing in my life that has never changed, is this desire to have land in Puerto Rico and create a place where people can come and experience another way of being.
Not a retreat (because really, what are we retreating from???). Not just an airbnb. Something that hasn't been done before.
Partially this came from spending my Summers as a child on my family's farm in the central mountains of Puerto Rico, from seeing this beautiful home my great-uncle built with his bare hands, with the lore of him bringing electricity, and business to Ciales. This renaissance man impacted so many simply by building a home. He had never built anything before, never farmed before. And he did both, and many more businesses, with excellence.
I took my first trip home to PR when I was six weeks old.
Every flight back stateside, I have cried a little, not wanting to leave mi isla behind.
At the end of January, my Soprimano (sobrino/primo/ hermano=nephew/cousin/brother), Joey, asked if he could move in with me. As we continued talking over the next couple of months, preparing for him to come, Puerto Rico started coming back up in conversation. After our trip together last August, he had come on board with my lifelong vision, and in February we started talking about moving up the timeline.
I started showing him listings of multifamily properties, and then when I found one that was really close to what I wanted (multiple single family homes on one lot), he said "You know, I can build all this for you, right? We can just buy the land."
I had completely forgotten that he had constructed his family's home in Mexico. Joey's Tio, Peter van Lengen, is the son of Johan van Lengen, the father of modern bioarchitecture. Johan actually wrote the book that they use in master's programs to teach bioarchitecture: The Barefoot Architect: A Handbook for Green Building.
We both wanted to move Rincón, and muscle testing confirmed it. My T**i Jessica is a real estate agent there, and was sending us listings.
We needed something within a mile of the beach, but far enough up the mountain to be protected from hurricanes, where we could build a well, and use solar, and rain catchers, and be completely off-grid/not subject to the utility piracy that is plaguing the island.
In May, Joey got here, and T**i sent us THE listing: about an acre of land, hidden from the main road, half a mile walk down one road directly to one of my favorite beaches, in the quiet, non-touristy part of Rincón; with a view of the ocean, the ecologically protected mini island of Desecheo, and some of the most stunning sunsets in the world.
The first week of June, we had a family reunion in Rincón, and Joey and I walked the land for the first time. It was electric. Brought Abu to see it. She fell in love, and blessed us in our pursuit. Met with Don Paco, the owner who lives on the adjacent lot. The entire area is owned by his family members, and it is so special to be brought here.
It took two months of patience, but Don Paco finally accepted our offer on the land.
We have a plan in place to have my house built first, with Joey's next door to follow. And then three little casitas that we will use in a business of service and love, as experiential stays.
Guests will have options for communal meals (we're building a dance floor, communal eating place, a small amphitheater, and tiny salt-water dipping pool as well), 1:1 body and energy work with me, non-touristy ecology tours with Joey (he was a marine biology major), and bio-architecture workshops hosted by both Joey and Peter Van Lenghen.
This allll happened because I followed my right next step. Thank you Source, Benevolence, Guidance, Joey, our Abu, and T**i Jessica!!! (Seriously, if you need a real estate agent in PR, Arena Fox is the BEST)!
We'll keep you filled in along the way.
Thousands of miles left in this journey. Taking the next step. 🦶🏽
