Why is this amazing house so cheap?
Especially as it’s really two houses.

Casa Alma and the Casita.

Casa Alma lies in a patch of green, irrigated land, surrounded by the ochre hills and blue skies of Andalucía, with a full view of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The orange orchards are filled with birdsong and you can grow almost anything you want with the abundant water and almost constant sunhine. Some people have described the place as a paradise.

The house is built in the taditional Alupjarran style, with flat roof and massive walls, and has been recently renovated. It could sleep up to six people. The verandah has views of the mountains and is a magical space for long evenings, with night-scented jasmine wafting in from the garden. On the other side of the house a beautiful old olive tree stands beside a sunny patio, surrounded by the garden and orchard, which contains almost a hundred assorted fruit trees. Nearby is the casista, the little house, recently converted from the traditional farm buildings. It sleeps two and has its own garden and view of the mountains. It is self-contained and can either be an annexe to the main house or an independent household.

Casa Alma is seven kilometers from Orgiva, in the heart of the Alpujarras, a region of great natural beauty and cultural interest. There is already an established population of British and other northern European people, looking for an alternative to the blandness of the Costa del Sol. For this reason property prices are high. Houses like Casa Alma in this area are currently on sale in the region of £300,000. But we are only asking £170,000. So why is this house so cheap?

In order to get to to Casa Alma you drive along a track through a dry river bed which is occupied by travellers from Britain and other northern countries. Some of them are fine people, but the first impression given by the settlement is a shock to people who haven’t seen anything like it before. There are dirty and dilapidated living-trucks and caravans, wrecked vehicles, piles of rubbish, grubby children, misceleaneous dogs and blank stares from some dodgey-looking people.

Most prospective purchasers take one look at this and decide not to buy. But having lived there for eight years we can report that the reality is different from the first impression. The only negative impact the travellers have is that occasionally they play loud music through the night and once a year, in March, there’s a loud festival that goes on for a week or more. There is no theft.We leave our doors unlocked and in eight years nothing has been taken. The park-up is several hundred metres from the house. You can’t see it and most of the time you wouldn’t know it was there. But several of the travellers have become personal friends of ours. Others are useful tradespeople, such as car mechanics and builders.

This is why Casa Alma is so cheap. People are put off by the travellers. But being so cheap it provides a unique opportunity for people with limited means to buy a beautiful cortijo in this much sought-after region. It would be ideal for anything from a small community or an extended family to two families who wanted to live quite separately. There’s unlimited scope for growing your own food as the land extends to almost an acre, with the main irrigation channel running along the uphill boundary. In all years but one we’ve had a surplus of our own home-grown olive oil.

However it is not a house for people who want a push-button life. The electricity supply is solar and this requires consciousness and attention to keep it running smoothly. Washing water is on tap, but drinking water has to be collected from a spring five minute’s walk away – a beautiful walk with stupendous views of the mountains! Through much of the year the land needs to be irrigated once a week, and the dometic water tank is filled with this water at the same time. Both houses have compost toilets and in winter wood must be hauled and chopped. On the other hand parking is 50yards from the house, which is good for the area.

In the immediate surroundings there are three other houses, all occupied by alterntaive-type English people, who are mostly engaged with cultivating the land. There’s a strong local community, which includes the nearby hamlet of Cigarrones. Mutual help and exchanges go on all the time and you tend to see your neighbours naturally as part of the normal daily rhythm. It is an ideal place for young children, who can run free in complete safety. They are welcome at the local primary school, where they very soon learn Spanish. There is also an English-medium Steiner school  in  Orgiva.

Contact Cathy on:
cathylotus@yahoo.co.uk
(0034) 64 54 91 81 6