The January light, and why we show at that hour

There is one hour of the day when a house in south-west Tenerife shows what it is, and it is not the hour in the brochure. Between November and February the sun drops behind the profile of La Gomera and for about twenty minutes the light comes in flat through the glazing, crosses the whole living room and reaches the back wall. In August that does not happen: the sun falls from higher up and stays on the terrace.

It is a difference that appears in no listing and that decides purchases. A buyer visiting in August at noon sees a house with the blinds down and the air conditioning on. The same buyer, in January at six, sees a different house.

We show in good light: mornings in the north, late afternoon in the south. It is not aesthetics, it is information.

In the north it is the other way round

In the Orotava valley and in Puerto de la Cruz the mist lifts in mid-afternoon and comes down off the mountain. The good house is seen in the morning, with the valley clear and Teide behind it. By five everything can be white and the garden invisible.

When someone comes for a single day from Munich or Manchester, this sets the order of the viewings: north in the morning, lunch in the middle, south at the end. It is not a diary detail, it is the difference between seeing two houses and understanding them.