LA MADRUGADA Someone once asked me to write what was so special about La Madrugada, I had to stop and think awhile. It is a large house but there are far larger house, it is a grand house but there are far grander houses but I can only explain it that when people visit for lunch or dinner or to stay, without fail, all find it a magical place. It would seem to have an aura about it, perhaps it is the serenity or the beauty of the surroundings, perhaps it is that one feels at one with nature here, children adore it, they liken it to a fairy castle with the freedom to enjoy adventure, to run and play safely. The house took three and a half years to build, we used to come every day, we watched it grow, brick by brick. Artisans were called in to make the cupola ceilings, laborious work bending wood into frames and filling with horse hair before being plastered into the perfect shape. An old man was tempted out of retirement in Granada to make the intricate tiles for the roof of the gazebo. The stone used for the 50 arches is from a quarry in Granada, the limestone for the floor shipped from Bulgaria. All the woodwork is solid chestnut from the hills around Ojen, to lift one door is an impossible fete for one man. The terracotta tiles were imported from Italy as in those days the Spanish ones were too small for the look we wanted to create. All the tiles in the fountains are old Spanish and took me hours to forage in the architectural salvage yards of Seville. The antique marble fountains were sourced in Venice. The roof tiles are all authentic and old, the beams for the pergolas are old beams from cadiz. The architecture of the house is a blend of Moorish/Spanish. The paints are all natural pigments which are enhanced by all the natural light that floods in through the house. The murals were executed by a talented Scottish artist, they are inspired by early 19th Century Continental paintings. Some of the exterior lamps are original, others copied by a wonderful forge in Baeza which took months to complete, all the interior wall sconces and candlelabra were discovered in old places the length and breadth of Spain. The kitchen is bespoke hand made of solid chestnut with “mellow yellow” marble from Granada for the worktops, with decorative hand painted wall tiles commissioned from an Argentenian ceramic artist living in Madrid. The frieze around the cornice of the dining room was created by two artists using gold leaf to resemble the wooden carved library of the Doge Palace in Venice which I fell in love with. The huge Spanish antique chandelier that hangs in the dining room was devotedly restored by me. The dining table base is a 16th Century Flemish Altar Front. The curtains are all premier quality Belgium velvet and hand made in London, the carpets are an interesting mix of Persian, Indian, Moroccan and the huge Zeiglers in the drawing and dining room were flown in from London and the large ivory velvet sofas were custom made in London. Most of the hanging lanterns were hand made in Morocco but sit happily alongside antique lamps. The bookcases in the drawing room were lovingly created by a master carpenter from London who spent 4 months on site. The stone balustrade of the main staircase is similar to one that I coveted in the old palace in Carmona. The small marble sink in the downstairs cloakroom was salvaged from an old convent somewhere in the north of Spain. I feel privileged to have these wonderful artefacts to go on living in our home as if they have somehow been reborn. I will not elaborate on the many antiques but suffice it to say that they are an eclectic mix of interesting pieces from Italy, Spain, UK ,Netherlands, India, Morocco, Denmark and France. The majority of the outside pots are very old olive jars.The garden has been planted with a profusion of trees, there are majestic Cypressas, Cork Oaks, Palms and ethereal Jacarandas, also a wonderful selection of mature fruit trees to include fig, pomegranate, banana, mango, orange, lemon, lime, peach and apricot. My husband harvests and preserves excellent olives from the ancient trees surrounding the lake. There is an abundant vegetable garden where chickens roam which we particularly enjoy. There are a myriad of plants and established shrubs and 700 rose bushes which bloom for most of the year. To sum up what this house has to offer it would probably be the freedom and the intense privacy yet close proximity to a life outside our cosseted existence, we feel we have been encompassed in a secure, natural environment in a beautiful and extraordinary part of the world and when we are absent for any length of time we always long to go home.