A charming fully furnished 3 bedroomed Andalucian patio house with
large private terrace in the beautiful historic hill town of Vejer de la
Frontera. 125,000 euros
In the heart of the old part of town, this delightful
house has been carefully restored to retain its original character. As is
traditional in this part of Spain, the front door from the quiet street leads
into a very pretty shared patio, shared with a Spanish family who have been
excellent neighbours and who maintain the patio beautifully. The house is
approximately 300 years old and it seems the Battle of Trafalgar could have
been watched from the roof terrace! Recent maintenance work in the patio
uncovered a brick archway which is thought to be Moorish, so parts of the house
could be even older than we thought.
Private steps to the main part of our
house lead up from the patio to our front door, via a small private terrace
overlooking the patio.
The main part of the accommodation is spread over two stories. It is bright and airy, with thick walls and shutters to keep cool in summer. The front door opens into a good-sized kitchen/dining/sitting room, leading to a traditionally-tiled bathroom with shower, washbasin and toilet, and to a bedroom. Stairs go up to a large room which can be used as a bedroom and/or sitting room. This opens out to a large private roof terrace with wonderful views to the sea (and over to Africa on a clear day!) and across the old town.
Our separate self-contained bed-sitting
room is on the ground floor, opening on to the shared patio. This is a large
room with plenty of space for a big double bed or two single beds, storage
cupboards, a sofa and chairs. A small kitchenette could be installed quite
easily. There is a spacious ensuite bathroom with shower, washbasin, toilet and
storage area.
A communal storage/utilities room also
opens on to the shared patio.
This property is currently used as a
family holiday home, which sleeps 6 people easily. However, the main part of
the house could be used as permanent or holiday accommodation while renting out
the ground floor bed-sitting room separately.
Hilltop Vejer de la Frontera is an exquisite pueblo blanco. Jan Morris’s classic book
‘Spain’ calls it ‘perhaps the most spectacular of all Spanish villages’. It also has the advantage of its proximity to
the miles and miles of unspoilt coastline of Andalucia’s Costa de la Luz. No
high-rise tourism development here, just the laid-back near-white sands of El Palmar
(a 10-15 minute drive away), the little resort of Conil, beautiful Roman
Bolonia and many more uncrowded sandy beaches that are too numerous to list.
The Costa de la Luz is great for water sports but equally good if you just want
to relax on the beach with a book or sit in one of the little bars with a cold
beer and some tapas. Lively hippie-style Tarifa is about 40 minutes away – for
surfer beaches and the short ferry crossing to Morocco.
Vejer is a labyrinth of narrow cobbled streets between
white-washed houses that are redolent of its Moorish history. It is a living
town rather than a tourist trap showpiece, and has managed to retain the appeal
of a Spanish village but with an edge of sophistication that has produced a
concentration of some of the best restaurants in the region. It makes an ideal
base to explore the beautiful and historic province of Cadiz, with Cadiz city,
Jerez and Seville all easy day-trips. Morocco appears tantalisingly close
across the Straits of Gibraltar and Tangier is another easy day-trip if you
feel more adventurous – only 2 hours away from our front door, via Tarifa and
the ferry!
Links
·
Tourist information: www.turismovejer.es
·
Local info: www.vejer.com
·
Vejer in the press: the Independent
