Kingdoms For Sale

Renovated Andalusian Cortijo with Roman roots near Ronda (Málaga)

 

The feeling:

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The caretaker Pepe told me that his father brought him to the old part of the house when he was 2 years old, his wife Antonia was born a few years later at the nearby pueblo, so he married a city girl.

He zoomed us through the old part of the farmhouse and when we entered the blue stone interior patio, my daughter and I fell into an admirative silence.

After many years of marketing inland properties in the south of Spain, property sizes and lavishly decorated houses seldom give me a thrill anymore. Cortijo del M. is an exception.

 

The 60 minutes’ drive through some of the most dramatic countryside in southern Spain doesn’t leave the visitor in any doubt; it is love or hate at first sight. Driving through mountains roads with unprepared guests, I always keep a plastic bag in the car just in case.

When Pepe heard us come down the dirt track, he buzzed the electric gate open letting us through old acorns and alcornoques and before discovering the house, in the distance toward the river, the tip of the palm tree plantation emerged, overlooked by two magnificent grey peaks splattered with acebuches (the biblical olive tree).

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Walking through the house, I always try to find what the problem is, you do after 50 years, but was gobsmacked to see none. We sat down in the shade of the terrace by the jade green tiles sw pool and after checking her photographs, my daughter looked at me and said: “I want that one”, her imagination flying high; I couldn’t blame her we were both in an architectural trance.

If four gorgeous bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms are enough, lucky you; during the last decades the government decided to stop all building permissions on rustic land.  The attention to details and the technical part of the construction are second to none, everything has been carefully planned, owner C. is perfection in details.

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Pepe spoke to the three happy horses, a local trainer rides them every day. The stables could cope with another two and the warehouse is full of the dry alfalfa from the land. “We have enough for the neighbours, plus there has never been a drought, not during my father nor my grandfather’s days! That says it all.

 

I was struck by the efficiency of the caretakers who I give an + 5 stars.

Due to the pandemic, the house had not been lived in for 15 months and every aspect of it, beds, kitchen, sitting room the blue flowers in the Andalusian patio and the state of the driveway were as if a magical landlord was living in.

Buying a country property abroad is easy, but it can take years and sometimes a divorce to get it right; Cortijo del M. is offered to you on a silver platter.

 

Pepe walked us to the river where Paquita, his sister-in-law, presented us with a bunch of delicious wild strawberries which we had never tasted before in hot July. She literally drowned us with the names of each vegetable and fruit tree growing lavishly on the grounds next to palm tree grove.

Before leaving, I asked Pepe if his wife can cook, he laughed politely: “ask Doña C.”

 

Description and sizes.

 

The property is located close to Ronda, next to a fabulous Natural Park, a 3-minutes’ drive to a small train station built by the earl of Bute over a century ago.

There are trains to Sotogrande, Madrid, Berlin or Victoria Station in London.

There are many fabulous restaurants with 30 minutes’ drive and a few respectful bilingual caterers.

Ronda, the historical Roman town is 36kms away, Sotogrande 55km, and the renowned resort Finca Cortesin, hosting one of the best golf courses in Spain, is only 45kms away.

 

Brief description of the property:

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It has 23,142 hectares (33 has. in “escritura”) of mature oaks of several subspecies such as holms and forest oaks, gall oaks as well as olive trees.

There are two rivers bordering the property and the old Arabic (Roman?) irrigation ditch.

The property was the site of a 1 AD Roman Villa, see the “columbarium”, beside the actual house.

There is a garden nursery with several species of (6.000 palm and (6.500) pecan trees which can be for sale with all the permissions and paperwork in order.

There is an orchard and a vegetable garden with a great many organic vegetables and fruits with all the permissions and paperwork to sell the excess. You will want your daily fresh eggs too.

There are several magnificent nature reserves nearby.

 

Regarding the house itself:

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Four double bedrooms each with en-suite fully equipped bathroom (bathtub and separate shower) as well as dressing areas.

The swimming pool that can be heated.

Spa area with Hammam, Jacuzzi, fully equipped bathroom and a separate well fitted gym area.

Siematic kitchen, office and laundry plus all appliances from Míele and Gaggenau.

 

Permanent staff:

Daily attending non-resident staff.

Two part-time maids, for housekeeping and to attend the garden and tree nurseries.

 Every aspect of the estate, roads and plantations has been done(?) with due approval, no stones left unturned.

The house sells fully furnished. C. Speak to me

 

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