Asten Goes to Aston: 13 Years, One Letter Away
To celebrate our 13th anniversary, Asten went to Aston, near Birmingham. The spelling is off by just one letter, but the spirit of the tradition is exactly the same!
It all started in 2019, when we marked our 6th anniversary in Asten, Holland and the nearby Van Gogh village of Nuenen. In 2021 we arrived in Asten, Austria, a small town outside Linz that you can cross by car in 3 minutes. Then came Asten in Germany, Astene in Belgium for our 10th anniversary in 2023, and Aston in France.
After France we ran out of towns: there is no other Asten, Astene or Aston in Europe. So this year we bent the rules by one letter and headed to Aston, a historic district just north of Birmingham. Football, heavy metal, architecture, a rainy walking tour and a Michelin-starred city: Aston and Birmingham gave us all of it.
Welcome to Aston
Our first photo of the trip was not of a monument but of a railway sign. Stepping off the train at Aston station and seeing our (almost) name on the brick wall was the moment the trip became real.
From there, “our” name followed us everywhere. Aston University greeted us with a tall sign proudly announcing its Triple Gold rating in the 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework, the best possible result. We joked that the Asten Business School now has a serious neighbour to compete with!
We swapped the Tenerife sunshine for grey English skies, jackets, scarves and woolly hats. Nobody complained: a little drizzle is part of the authentic Birmingham experience. Little did we know how much drizzle was still to come!
Aston Villa Football Club and the claret-and-blue steps
No visit to Aston is complete without Villa Park, home of Aston Villa Football Club since 1897. The club itself was founded in 1874, and that date is painted proudly on the famous steps in front of the stadium, together with the golden lion crest on a claret-and-blue background.
Of course, we had to sit on those steps for a team photo pointing at the big “ASTON” letters, as if to say: “Look, they named it after us!” (Well, almost.)
Ozzy Forever
Just around the corner, on the outside wall of the Holte Pub on Trinity Road, we found one of the most impressive murals we have ever seen. Ozzy Osbourne, the legendary Black Sabbath frontman, grew up in Aston and was a lifelong Villa fan. After he passed away in July 2025, the club commissioned this mural in his honour.
The Aston Hotel
For real estate people, a walk through a new neighbourhood is never just a walk. We kept stopping to admire the architecture: red brick, terracotta and grand old facades.
Our favourite was the old Aston Hotel, with its carved stone coat of arms, arched entrances and big bay window. Today its doors are boarded up and covered in concert posters, but the building still has great bones. Of course, the whole team immediately started imagining what it could become with the right buyer and the right project. Some habits never take a day off!
Birmingham in the rain
From Aston we headed into Birmingham city centre for a guided walking tour. The English weather decided to give us the full experience, so we explored under a sea of umbrellas: black ones, a lilac one and one very cheerful pink one.
Our guide led us to Centenary Square, home to The Rep theatre and the Library of Birmingham. The library, wrapped in its famous facade of interlocking metal rings, opened in 2013, the same year Asten Realty was born. We felt an instant connection with a building exactly our age!
On Broad Street we found the Walk of Stars, Birmingham’s own version of the Hollywood pavement. Of course, we chose the star of the Aston Villa Team of ‘82, the side that won the European Cup that year. All our shoes gathered around one star made our favourite photo of the day: one team saluting another.
A Michelin-starred celebration
No Asten anniversary is complete without great food, and Birmingham did not disappoint. The city has become a serious destination for fine dining, and Adams, with its green marble entrance and its Michelin star, is one of its stars.
In the evening we traded raincoats and umbrellas for our best outfits and gathered for our anniversary dinner: always the perfect way to raise a glass to these years together.
13 years, one letter away
Thirteen is said to be an unlucky number, but not for us. Thirteen years ago Asten Realty started with five people and a big idea. Today we are a multinational team that helps hundreds of families every year find their home in Tenerife.
Thank you to everyone who made this trip, and these 13 years, possible: our team, for the energy and hard work you bring every day; our clients, for your trust; and our partners, for growing alongside us.
And now the big question: where will Asten go next? There are no Astens left, so the search for the next “almost Asten” is officially open. Suggestions are welcome!
