description

Picture the scene. It is nearing the end of the 16th century and the serfs are really getting fed up with playing in the mud and eating nettle soup and sleeping on damp straw. So they stage a revolution and the Feudal system collapses and a new breed of small landowner emerges. With their new found freedom the Vassals build large stone houses, with walls as thick as four plump chickens tied together with medieval string, houses that came to be known as masias. This is where the new landowners lived with their wife and children, their grand parents, their uncles, aunts, cousins, dogs, cats, horses, goats and the occasional goldfish. Life was good in a brand new sort of way. And guess what? Finca Del Pueblo is precisely this. An old masia built over four hundred years ago although, it must be said, the owners are new. If what you are seeking is to be surrounded by the sweep of mountains in the Burga Valley, just 2 kilometers from the quaint and popular town of El Perelló, then perhaps Finca del Pueblo is worth a visit. With perfect access, as it is just off the TV-3022, it brings you right to the front gate. The finca is large, with 7 hectares of land that is mostly composed of pine forest with olive trees. So to the masia the vassal built. The rear of the house fronts the road as the fascade points towards the mountains. There is a cute courtyard with a raised pool decorated in ‘trencadis’ or broken ceramic tiles, a little invention by a man called Antoni Gaudi. There is also, a large stone table made in this same style. Entering the house, we have a bright, airy conservatory with a stone bench. Then one has the choice of stepping into the home office through French doors or entering the modern kitchen, fully equipped and more than large enough to have its own dining area. Then we come to the living room the Vassal built all that time ago. It is a large living area with solid wood burner which is not 400 years old and a diesel fuelled central heating system. On the second floor, we have four bedrooms with vaulted ceilings that neither permit the heat of the sun penetrate inside during hot summer days nor the heat from the fire escape during the cold days of January. There is a main bedroom, two other medium sized bedrooms plus a guest bedroom that has access to a large balcony with views of the mountains. On this floor there is a WC plus a very large bathroom decorated in trencadis with a walk-in shower area. What powers this masia is an alternative solar energy system, a powerful inverter, 48 volt battery configuration, 18 solar panels and generator back-up. There are also generous warehousing and out-house storage of 40m2 distributed in different spaces. There is a cistern of 16,000 liters that collects rainwater from the roofs and there is also an old cistern, currently not in use of 12,000 liters capacity. For this finca with walls as thick as four plump chickens tied together by medieval string, it is well worth a visit.