by Anika

A lot of people have asked me how I found the land for Spellbound Springs. It's a story that confirms that some things are just meant to be.

I had recently graduated with my PhD from ASU (after doing a dissertation on authenticity in an Airbnb context) and knew I didn't want to go into academia, so I went back to what I was doing before, real estate investment and management. I took some time and got my other rentals fully situated, built a tiny home (Cactus Casita), and then started on another tiny home, the Moccasin House.

When sourcing products for the Moccasin House, I was looking for apartment sized appliances, I came across a listing for an apartment sized stove on Facebook marketplace, and then checked the seller's profile to see if she had any other apartment sized appliances. If you've ever sourced non-standard appliances, you'll know the pain of finding them.

The stove ended up being the wrong type, but I noticed the seller had a trailer park in Truth or Consequences NM for 300k, which is crazy cheap given the park had 22 spots renting for $400-500/month. The real estate side of me was let’s say highly intrigued. I booked a trip with my ex to go see the park (I wasn’t about to drive out to the middle of the desert alone to look at a trailer park), the park was an experience, we dub it "Tweakerville" but the numbers worked financially. After seeing it I told my ex "I'm not sure if I need a tetanus shot, an STD test or a shower" but it does have merit.

While we were driving around town, I noted a FSBO sign on a property in the desirable hot springs district that also looked to be a trailer park. I noted the number but didn't think much of it.

 

 

Fast forward a month and I had Tweakerville under contract and was going back for pictures and videos, and the same day I was there a murder happened at the park. I decided a murder was a pretty clear sign to not proceed and I was out of the project; plus the partner I had found to do it with had backed out and it was too big of a project for me to do on my own. I called the number for the FBSO and got to look at Spellbound the same weekend.

When I walked into the gates of spellbound, it was like I had entered another realm (very different from the Tweakerville trailer park), the property was quiet, peaceful and serene with ancient mesquite trees and native grasses. It had a 1960s single wide trailer that had been recently remodeled and a canned ham vintage trailer that was being used for storage. It also had a hot springs well. The property has views of turtleback mountain and is right down the street from the river park and famous healing waters trailhead. I was sold on it. The seller and I even walked the river path together.

 

 

It took over 6 months to purchase the property (after several failed offers and contracts). The seller was a bit back and forth on selling and I can't say I blamed her. The land is special. I originally planned on just using the property as a personal river and hot springs getaway. However, given how special it was, I felt compelled to share it with others. I started planning how to do that whilst preserving the land. I then started looking at building or putting tiny homes on it. I met with the city multiple times and landed on the approach of getting re-zoned as an RV park and that would allow for me to bring in tiny homes on wheels. The tiny homes are smaller and lower impact than stick built construction. Plus, I was able to source unique, homemade ones that are works of art in their own right - adding to the landscape rather than putting in big ugly drywall boxes like some developers might have done.

During the purchasing process, the seller revealed to me that the property was owned by a witch before her and that she found all sorts of wild things on the property. When we renovated there were symbols painted on fences, crystals all around, odd stones scattered and old glass bottles found buried on the property. My handyman thinks the place is haunted and says he hears voices (and he refuses to sleep in the main trailer bedroom). I don't think it's haunted, it's more "enchanted" if you ask me. If you get quiet and really feel the land and tune into the space, you can feel that it's special. The neighbor told me this whole neighborhood is sort of enchanted and they call it the sacred spot which is such a beautiful way to describe it.

Based on all this, I came up with the name Spellbound Springs for the property. You feel the enchantment when you walk in and I'm excited about sharing the magic. So that's how I went from a PhD, tiny homes, a murder at Tweakerville to a beautiful stunning and magical hot springs tiny home village. I’m grateful for the year-long journey that led me to where I am now with Spellbound, finishing construction and getting ready to welcome guests into this enchanted realm.