Holiday Home in the Ronda Mountains of Andalucia, Southern Spain

Property Description

This was once a humble little village house where the old muleteer lived with his wife and ten children. Amazingly, they all seemed to have slept downstairs (sometimes three or four to a bed) as the upstairs was used to store animal feed for the mules and pigs they kept. As you would imagine, the house looks a little different now!

Ceilings have been raised and windows enlarged, creating light and space, but the new owners have retained as much as they possibly could of the original masterpiece, including the fabulous, original terracotta floor tiles and the old roof beams.

The open-plan kitchen / dining room is downstairs and this leads on to a comfortable sitting room - with two sofas, lots of games and a wood burner for the chillier winter evenings. Beyond there is a bedroom for children and a bathroom (with shower). The plant-filled back patio is ideal for secluded al fresco dining.

Upstairs, the beautiful master bedroom with its lovely king-sized bed has views over the church spire and terracotta roof tops of this picture-postcard little town. It has a large en-suite bathroom. Leading off the bedroom is a big sun terrace with fabulous panoramic views of the town and the whole valley beyond.

Cortes de la Frontera is a classic pueblo blanco set in a powerful range of limestone hills which look out over gently sloping valleys of olive groves, pasture and oak trees. With roughly 1,500 inhabitants, it has bars, restaurants and supermarkets, plus a covered market selling fresh produce every day of the week.

This is not just a pretty home, it's also an ideal base from which to explore the Ronda Mountains and the Grazalema and Los Alcornocales National Parks, each of them vast areas of glorious, protected nature. Each of them incredibly beautiful, each entirely different …

Clients had this to say: "Stephen and I wanted to let you know how wonderful the rental you found us was. The owners have done a brilliant job of fixing up this historic little house and they have appointed it perfectly. The house's location and views are hard to beat. Thanks once again".