Self Catering Holiday Accommodation | Farmhouse in Southern Spain

Property Description

This lovely old country farmhouse is set in rolling hills to the west of Granada. It's as rustic as they come, renovated and refurnished with attention to the smallest details, carefully recreating the authentic atmosphere of days gone by.

A genuine, traditional farmhouse, it abounds with antique furniture and curios that belonged to the family and their relatives.

Past the welcoming outside terrace and its vine-covered porch is a spacious entrance hall with bedrooms to either side.

Further on is a sitting / dining room with an open fireplace, a well-appointed kitchen and bathroom. It's a house of great character, as authentically Spanish as can be. It's a classic, its timber beamed ceilings and gorgeous old floor tiles offset by white walls. Floor patterns vary from room to room, adding to the uniqueness of the place.

Upstairs are the remaining bedrooms, and another huge lounge with an open fireplace. There is also a cheerful play corner for small children.

To the rear, accessed from the downstairs sitting room is a barbecue area. You don't have to go far to find fresh thyme for your steak, or parsley for the salad, as the owners have an organic vegetable patch full of good and healthy vegetables and herbs.

And for dessert, what about sun-ripened grapes or a feast of figs? Assuming it's the right time of year, all you need do is reach up and pick them.

The icing on the cake is the good sized swimming pool, completely private and enjoying panoramic views of the surrounding hills.

Fenced and gated, for rural tranquility and peacefulness this is hard to beat; rolling pasture lands and olive dotted hillsides undulate gently into the far horizon. Apart from one other farmhouse in the mid distance (which faces in the opposite direction anyway) it's just classical Andalusian countryside as far as the eye can see.

For the curious, next to the house a small cave has been turned into a little museum full of all sorts of old farm implements and utensils.

This is the very heart of "El Poniente Granadino", the western frontier of "Al-Andalus", the old Moorish Kingdom of Granada. A couple of kilometres from the little pueblo of Ventorros de San José (population approx. 2,000; three bar/ restaurants serving authentic local fare at very reasonable prices, two banks, a petrol station, a chemist and a medical centre; internet connection is available in the Town Hall), the closest town of any size is Loja, 20 kilometres to the south.

From here Andalucia's major motorway network will quickly and easily take you to Granada (one hour from the farmhouse), to Málaga (1¼ hrs) or to Sevilla (2½ hrs). Or cut across country via Algarinejo, Iznájar and Rute to pick up the A-45 motorway to Córdoba (2 hrs). The high peaks of Sierra Nevada and the beaches of the Costa Tropical and the Costa del Sol.

All around the farmhouse is a region of pastoral splendor, great natural charm, warm, welcoming people and ancestral traditions. The pace of life is slow and steady, the authentic Andaluz way.

Obviously this is not a property for anyone who wants 21st Century design and panache but if you are seeking to experience genuine Andalusian countystyle living, the way it has always been over many hundreds of years, this is a great place to stay. The pool is of more recent vintage, of course!