In the heart of lovely Gaucín village, one of the most attractive of all the pueblos blancos, near its beautiful church and Moorish castle, this is a fabulous house, rich in character, charm and style.
It's effectively two properties imaginatively joined together to make one superb residence: the main house which one enters from the street, and the Casita (once the original stables) behind it. Between them, enclosed within high white-washed walls, is a small but very attractive swimming pool with stepping stones along one side joining the two cottages together. The result is a really creative home, light and airy, with many different spaces and attractive angles. It's lovely!
The conversion and refurbishment has been done with care and quality, too. Beautiful wooden double doors open from the quiet little street outside to a hallway / cloakroom which leads through to the main living room, with the kitchen / dining room off to the right. This is a traditional, country-style room with lovely old floor tiles and plenty of space. It's fully equipped with a dining table for six, oven and hob, microwave, dishwasher, washing machine, tumble dryer and fridge / freezer.
The living room alongside is another really attractive space. Light floods in from the pool area outside, its rustic charm enhanced by comfortable, quality furnishings. Facilities include a radio / CD player and WiFi broadband internet connection. Three sofas are arranged around the coffee table in front of the open fireplace, one of them a double sofabed.
An open staircase (it's unguarded so care needs to be taken with small children) leads to the huge, romantic master bedroom which occupies the whole of the first floor of the main house.
This features an enormous double bed, an open-plan sitting area (with balcony) a couple of steps down with a full bathroom alongside. There is a second sofabed in this sitting area but obviously its privacy is limited because its overlooked by the main bedroom.
Two double doors open from the bedroom to a pretty, railed terrace which looks down to the pool below and up to Gaucin's famous Moorish castle. Colourfully planted, with its wooden table and chairs, this is a really nice place to catch the early morning sunshine or to sit under the stars which twinkle above the floodlit castle at night.
Up another level brings one to a large, partly shaded, walled roof terrace with superb views, particularly of the nearby church and the castle high above, dramatically perched on its rocky outcrop. In the other direction, there are glimpses over the tiled rooftops of the village to Morocco, far away across the sea. This is the place to be if you want to improve your tan, it's a proper little sun trap. Loungers are provided.
Back down in the living room, a path leads from the main house across stepping stones alongside the pool to the converted stables, the casita, behind. Again, there's no guard on this pathway, so it's not a place for young children or anyone with wobbly legs to be.
The pool is only 4 m x 2 m but it's completely private and very welcoming with its pretty, cascading waterfall tumbling down from an attractively tiled mosaic arch. Mostly it's 1.5 m deep but a little bench seat runs along its length just under the water, providing a place to splash about or, better still, for sitting in the pool with a gin and tonic comfortably in hand! The pool is heated using solar panels. A wooden sundeck at one end provides a place to loll about between dips.
At the other end of the pool, steps go up to the Casita's completely shaded but open sitting and barbeque area which looks back through a wide archway to the main house beyond the pool. Here you can dine in the fresh air under its shady calm and you can even light a log fire here on cooler evenings as it also has an open fireplace.
Inside there is a bathroom (shower only) and stairs going up to two bedrooms on the floor above, one with full-sized bunk beds, the other a double bedroom. Both have access to a railed terrace overlooking the pool.
In our opinion, the general facilities of the property are best suited for a maximum of six guests, although a couple more can be accommodated because of the choice of sleeping arrangements: there are three bedrooms (two doubles and one with full sized bunk beds) plus two sofabeds (one in the lounge, one in the split-level sitting area of the master bedroom).
Children are, of course, welcome but because of the open staircases and unguarded swimming pool, we don't think this is a suitable property for children under six, or anyone who is infirm.
Parking is usually available on the street just outside the house or close by. It's a quiet street more or less in the centre of Gaucín, one of Spain's most enchanting little villages. Here you will enjoy its pretty streets and traditional buildings, spectacular views and a good selection of restaurants and bars. The owners recommend that you try the tapas at Paco Pepe's bar just a couple of streets away. Climb up to the castle and pick figs in the ruins with the eagles soaring high overhead! The village has its own pool (open in July and August) and tennis court.
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Stroll into the surrounding countryside to enjoy the beautiful views and the profusion of wild flowers in Spring. There are spectacular cork forests with picnic areas, rock pools where you can swim, or you can dine beside tumbling streams in renowned restaurants. A beautiful 45 minute drive will take you across the mountains to Ronda, brimming with history and interest. Heading south to the coast, you can take a boat trip to Tangiers in North Africa, or just to see the dolphins playing in the Straits of Gibraltar. Other scenic drives will take you to Sevilla, Jerez or Cadiz.
All marvelous places to visit. And, at the end of a lovely day out, a delightful home with bags of character to return to!
