We built our retirement home after searching many countries. Only Costa Rica stood out for us as it provided a beautiful setting with both mountain and ocean views. The mountains meet the sea at the beaches where you can spend hours without seeing another person! We felt safe and were welcomed by the native Costa Ricans who are a friendly people, especially to Gringos like us who are not yet bilingual! So choosing Costa Rica was easy, but building a home in a foreign country was guite challenging, especially in 2014 era! We stayed in many houses and hotels in the area for about 4 years before we bit the bullet and broke ground. By staying in so many houses we learned what we wanted, learned what didn't work well and learned what was important to us. We had our home designed with multiple roof lines to capture a view with each step you take to the main level , while using the roof angles to capture the breezes from the valley. We value privacy and recently purchased the lot next door. The lot on the other side of us is vacant as well, so no nearby neighbors yet!
We have learned that the jungle can be hard on houses, causes electrical outages at the worst times, and with one downed branch steals your wifi or satellite TV! While lowering our US expectations of perfection for vacation rentals in CR, we have upgraded our home as upgrades become available and accessible! For example we now have Starlink wifi , improved appliances, better faucets that don't rust from salt air, and newer high quality furniture purchased locally and shipped from the states! Sadly there is still NO AMAZON, but a PRICESMART ( like Costco) in San Jose, so many supplies purchased there!
We have fulfilled this one dream and may retire at Villa Vista Milagrosa, someday. We hope that Villa Vista Milagrosa and the southern zone of Costa Rica make your vacation the most memorable!