HOUSE FOR SALE - MONDUJAR, LECRIN VALLEY, SOUTH OF GRANADA, ANDALUCIA, SOUTHERN SPAIN 59,000 Euros  This house sits quietly down a narrow street. The front of the house gives the impression of a small 'two up - two down' dwelling, but as you enter through the antique double doors the space just opens up in front of you! The doors open onto a long wide open hallway, with an open aspect lounge to the left, stairs to the first floor, a bathroom to the right, and a kitchen at the end. Walk through the kitchen (past an open fire with a fabulous, ornate fireplace) and you are in another room currently used as a bedroom but which could easily be a charming dining room. Back into the hall and an external door leads out onto a private patio area. Currently used as a storage area, but with huge potential for a private, bright and sunny eating or relaxing area - with space for a plunge pool too. The four surrounding walls are crying out for greenery, trailing plants, wall decoration and either cooling paint effects or calm white! The clay tiled stairs from the hallway lead up to the first floor, and there is a window on the right which looks down onto the patio area. At present, the first floor is a large double bedroom, with a window looking out onto the narrow street at the front of the house. The final, notable, aspect of this impressive hallway is the 'atrium' effect. This is currently rather temporary, and in need of repair, but it gives a good idea of how a more substantial and permanent atrium can transform indoor living space. The natural daylight floods into the hallway, which in turn adds light to all rooms leading from it. So, the above is the main house, which on its own is a good sized living area. But there is more! Back into the patio/storage area * there are a set of steps which lead up to a first floor. At present, this area is a huge open space, partly open to the elements and partly used as storage. It is clear to see that it was once 3 very large rooms, and could be so again! There was one central room, with one room to the left, and one to the right. Finally, there are some interesting features to the house that need to be mentioned - antique exterior and interior doors, original timber ceiling beams, original clay/terracotta floor tiles, stunning antique open fireplace in kitchen to name but a few! As a building project, there are a number of options for this house. The house is priced to sell. This is a realistic price for a house/plot of this size, in need of work. The floor space occupied by the ground floor is approximately 130 sq m.
If you would like any more information or have further questions, please contact the seller direct, details below. The following is a recent report by a family friend - a long-time conservator and architectural stone mason -
Mondujar is a small village south from Granada in the Valle de Lecrin. Its roots lie in the period of Islamic settlement and conversion after the 8th century. There are visible Roman remains in the village also, this area being rich in soil and water and quite intensively farmed since time out of mind. This part of Andalucia remained culturally muslim much longer than anywhere else, the mudejar population being expelled after a rising in the 1680s, some 100 years after the formal conquest of Granada by the 'Catholic Kings'.
 Although rebuilding has always taken place, of course, the pattern of the existing pueblos locally was largely established during the Moorish period. Later structures will occupy earlier footprints. Rebuilt or remodelled houses will retain early fabric. Some houses, at least, will consist almost entirely of early fabric, having changed only in superficial decoration.
 Rammed earth construction was typical and widespread throughout the historical period, but was particularly favoured by masons of the moorish period. The subsoil locally is eminently suitable for use in building, containing a wide range of sharp-edged aggregate that, along with the soil, compacts well and has proved very durable, even when fully exposed to the elements due to ruination and abandonment of the building. In the area, free-standing boundary walls of rammed earth persist from the earlier period. Traditionally, rammed earth buildings were plastered inside and out with either earth or soft lime plasters, and typically these were limewashed. Floors were of earth or clay tile on earth.
This house has a narrower frontage to the lane within the built-up area of the pueblo, a short distance from the mudejar churh, which will almost certainly occupy the site of an earlier mosque. The plot is long and wider to the rear than this frontage, with an open corral area bounded by buildings on three sides. To the rear of the plot, a two-storey rammed earth structure, with curiously rounded, almost horse-shoe openings to both windows and doors, whilst having been a stable in more recent times, is probably a very old moorish period dwelling. The rear wall of this has been removed, replaced with concrete block, but the walls remain on three sides in a readily redeemable condition.
 From the front door, the main house is accessed via a long hallway, with a room to the left-hand side, and a small atrium above part of it, to add light to the kitchen. The wall of the kitchen is of 2" brick stood on edge and bonded with gypsum, a typical form of partition and even exterior wall locally. A small but reasonable window into the kitchen could be installed without need to remove or alter the stairs. The wall of this room adjoining the hallway has been removed. The walls and ceiling appear to be in a generally sound condition. The exterior of the house retains its lime render for the most part and joist-ends are unlikely to have rotted as would have been the case if the outside had been rendered with cement. The front bedroom of the house seems to be in generally sound condition, requiring little beyond redecoration.
The stairs lead onto a clay-tiled floor above the kitchen. The first floor of the 'stable' building is accessed from this. The whole first floor area might be made into an open terraced area, the old roof removed, subject to a suitable method of making the clay-tile, formerly interior floors weather-proof. A small room opposite the entrance to the stable might be roofed and made good as a utility room.
This building is currently of two large rooms, one per floor. It is big enough that these spaces might be partitioned, certainly at first floor level, to create two bedrooms. It would be possible to create a self-contained dwelling here, independent of the main house and across the patio.
Works to the main house would be largely superficial, it being in a generally sound condition.
To summarise - there is little doubt that a modest investment in works would exponentially enhance the value of what is, in essence, a charming and characterful property of considerable antiquity and historical importance. There is no doubt either that the structural condition of the main buildings on the site is sound and fit for purpose. There is no structural justification for demolition and sound economic and cultural reasons for retention. Use of the correct traditional methods and materials in repair and refurbishment works would ensure the healthy survival of this building long into the future.
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Villa Ithaca - Bed and breakfast accomodation for the Lecrin Valley and Granada
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