In 2002 we decided to move from our former touristic place in the Alentejo, Portugal, Moinhos de Madragoa, because at the time we were very involved with horse riding treks and our 1 hectare of land around the watermills was simply too small to sustain the horses. We couldn't find anything suitable around our area and gradually started looking further afield and then over the border into Spain. Finally in 2003 we "discovered" the part of Extremadura that makes a triangle between Caceres, Merida and Trujillo and right in the middle of this is the Sierra de Montanchez. Even on our first visit we both felt enchanted by this area of craggy peaks, remote and magical olive groves planted hundreds of years ago and the extensive woods of chestnut, holm and cork oak. The local village of Montanchez although not immediately striking or at all "pretty" had a down to earth, charm of a traditional community living through the local agriculture , in particular the jamon business for which Montanchez has been famed for hundreds of years (see separate blog on Jamon, Jamon!) A big plus for us was that this was a real Spanish community, in fact we were the first foreigners to move into the area.
There was one problem that soon became apparent. We wanted to buy another old house and renovate it ourselves, having completed 3 such projects we were not daunted and even looking forward to another challenge. However, this was not to be as there is an almost total lack of large houses in the countryside around here. Very tempting and beautiful old houses in the villages complete with romantic patios, vaulted ceilings and wine cellars still crammed with huge old ali baba type clay wine pots........but we are country types and couldn't be happy living within a village community. So we were in a quandary, having found this wonderfully atmospheric area with still very reasonable property prices we couldn't find our ideal ruin. We decided to stay with the area and compromise with building a new house. No shortage of beautiful fincas, i.e. just land no house, it was difficult to decide but one particular finca kept pulling us back, mainly because of the view, 5 craggy peaks with dense foliage irrupting out of the rocks, all a bit "picnic at hanging rock" one of my favourite movies. This was the one .
And so it was, while still running our business in the Alentejo we bought 20 hectares of the sierra and called it Finca al-manzil. After selling up in Portugal we moved to Spain, renting a house in Montanchez while we planned and set off on the via dolorosa that is Spanish bureaucracy .
The planning process for building a new house on land is not really complicated just rather protracted, the local ayuntiamento were somewhat bemused by our desire to apply for a building license, the locals just went ahead and built..........but of course this was for small weekend retreats and we needed to built on a more extensive scale so no choice but to be 100% legal especially as we were planning a casa rural accommodation business. The process is more organized now, I guess we were pioneers or rather guinea pigs.
After nearly one year we finally started building our barn where we lived until the main house, cortijo was built. The building was a good experience, builders hard working and willing to interpret some of our outlandish foreign ideas into practicality. I think the houses have turned out well, the last thing we wanted to do was to make a pastiche of old houses, they are new and have all the advantages of a new house and I hope some subtle references to old houses in the materials and layout. We have left the surrounds of the houses very natural, there is no garden as such because the beautiful old holm oaks and natural vegetation among the granite boulders is so attractive particularly in spring when the earth explodes with millions of wild flowers , mainly camomile, vipers bugloss and wild marigold , the combination of vivid blue, white and yellow amongst the rich green is simply breathtaking.
We had no idea how the business would go, Extremadura is still off the beaten track but 4 years ago even more so. We made our web site and hoped for the best http://www.finca-al-manzil.com/ There have also been some excellent articles in national and international press about Extremadura which certainly helped.
Thankfully everything went well from the start, never a shortage of people who want to experience something different in unspoilt natural surroundings, no frills but comfortable and hopefully a warm welcoming atmosphere. Most of our clients are fellow foreigners escaping for weekends or weeks as b.& b. guests in the cortijo or for weekly self catering holidays in the barn or the cortijo. I think most people appreciate living for a while in a self sustaining house in beautiful, peaceful surroundings. The houses are completely run by solar power and we have our own water from a deep bore hole through the granite so it is very pure. The woodburning stoves are fuelled by the biannual prunings of the holm oaks, the one in the cortijo also runs a few radiators for our short but chilly winters. The swimming pool has a marvellous Australian salt water purification filter system so we never have to use chemical chlorine, no red eyes and itchy skin.
Although we don't run horse riding treks anymore we still have 3 horses and 2 donkeys which are free to roam around the whole finca except for the areas around the houses. They are pretty much self-sustaining too, in Spring the pasture is really rich, in Autumn there are tons of acorns from the oaks, unlike English oaks these acorns are not harmful for horses, we also dry figs when they are in season as special treats.
In the meantime Manfred has started another business almost by chance. He now has a small property agency specializing in fincas for sale in the Sierra de Montanchez.......we are no longer the only foreigners in the area but the people who have come to settle here are all very appreciative of the sierra and just as concerned as us to preserve the original atmosphere as far as it is possible in this fast changing world. You can see Manfred's site at
We are busy but take care to take a few holidays every year which I will report on the blog as well as some of our past adventures. http://www.ferienhausmiete.de/ferienhaus
