El Madroñal Cortijo Villa

The client — a Dutch family acquiring the cortijo as a year-round main residence — commissioned a heritage-sensitive restoration: keep the cortijo soul, modernise the inside, get the architecture breathing again. The plot is ~3,500 m², walking distance from the El Madroñal community gate. Total intervention: ground floor (entrance hall, open-plan living/kitchen/dining, study, library, guest suite — 280 m²) and first floor (master suite + 3 bedrooms — 270 m²). Pre-works items resolved before fit-out: the original handmade-terracotta roof was carefully stripped tile by tile, the timber substructure (200×100 mm solid-oak rafters) treated and re-roofed with a modern PIR-insulated breathable layer, then re-tiled with the original tiles plus matched salvage (the heritage face you see is genuine, the thermal performance is 2025); all original solid-oak structural beams were stripped of old paint and stain, treated against woodworm and given a clear matte oil finish; and the existing single-pump pool plant was upgraded to a fully integrated Fluidra + Daikin system. Three internal partition walls were demolished to reopen the cortijo's principal living volume.

Technical Specifications

Material selection took three sessions at our showroom and a half-day at a reclaimed-stone yard in Sevilla. Session one fixed the floors and the wall finish: reclaimed antique terracotta tiles (~25 × 25 cm, handmade, varied warm orange-rose tones, irregular edges, sourced through a Sevilla heritage merchant), and hand-trowelled Topciment Tadelakt Premium in a custom mixed soft sand-rose tone for the principal living spaces and bathrooms. Session two locked in the kitchen: a full Bulthaup b1 in matte clay-tone lacquer with selective solid-oak fronts, a Wolf 90 cm range cooker (the classic red-knob version) flanked by clay-tone cabinetry, a Gaggenau combi-steam flush-mounted, two Sub-Zero 700 Series integrated columns behind solid-oak panels. Session three covered sanitary and exterior: tadelakt-clad freestanding tub in the master, Cea Design Free Ideas brushed-stainless tapware throughout, Crittall-style slim matte-black steel-framed glazing for the principal openings, and locally-quarried split-face grey natural stone for selected feature walls.

Technical Specifications

The exterior intervention preserved the cortijo silhouette and reopened the architecture without breaking it. The lime-washed thick walls were repaired patch by patch using traditional lime mortar (NOT modern cement render — the wall has to keep breathing) and re-finished in a soft fresh white lime wash. The original handmade-terracotta roof was carefully retained (see Project Scope above). Two principal arched openings on the south elevation were restored to their original geometry and fitted with full-height frameless glazing in slim matte-black Crittall-style steel frames — the openings were always there, only the bricked-in infill is gone. The original 8 × 4 m white-tiled pool was demolished and rebuilt as a 12 × 4 m salt-chlorinated pool with dark-grey natural-stone mosaic finish and rough split-face local-stone coping. The pool deck is reclaimed terracotta pavers laid with grass joints — a deliberate Andalusian gesture that lets ground water drain and softens the geometry. Pool plant: Fluidra variable-speed + sand filter + saltwater chlorination + a Daikin Altherma 3 H heat pump. Landscaping kept a low-water Mediterranean understorey (lavanda, romero) on Hydrawise drip irrigation around the pool perimeter and approach paths.

Technical Specifications

The ground-floor reorganisation removed three internal partition walls to reopen the cortijo's principal living volume — a ~150 m² high-pitched space with original solid-oak roof beams running gable-to-gable and reclaimed antique terracotta floor flowing throughout. The Bulthaup b1 kitchen runs ~6 m along the back wall with a floating 3.2 × 1 m central island in matte clay-tone lacquer + solid-oak fronts, topped with a single slab of grey-veined Italian marble with a softened bevelled edge ~30 mm thick. The Wolf 90 cm range cooker (red-knob classic) is centred on the back-wall run flanked by clay-tone cabinetry; a Gaggenau BS 484 combi-steam oven flush-mounted to the right; two Sub-Zero 700 Series integrated fridge + freezer columns behind matching solid-oak panels at the end of the run. The living room is anchored by a wood-burning fireplace recessed into a thick lime-plastered feature wall with a slim slate hearth; one of the restored arches with Crittall-style frameless glazing opens directly onto the pool terrace; a heavy handwoven wool rug in soft oat-and-rose tone anchors the cream-bouclé sectional sofa.

Technical Specifications

The first-floor master suite occupies a single ~75 m² sequence under the restored pitched roof: bedroom, dressing room and en-suite, all under exposed solid-oak beams. The bedroom has the antique terracotta floor, soft sand-rose tadelakt walls, and a wide hand-woven natural-linen panel headboard mounted on solid-oak verticals. A small restored arch on the east wall fits a Crittall-style steel-framed window that catches the early-morning light. The dressing room is a fully bespoke walk-in in solid-oak joinery — open hanging bays, soft-close drawer banks, integrated LED-lit shoe cubbies. The en-suite bathroom is the headline space: walls and floor in continuous hand-trowelled tadelakt (no joints) in soft sand-rose, a rectangular freestanding tub clad in matching tadelakt centred against a split-face grey natural-stone feature wall, a small arched window bringing in soft side daylight; a floating solid-oak double-basin vanity in tadelakt with Cea Design Free Ideas brushed-stainless wall-mounted tapware; a frameless walk-in shower with brushed-stainless thermostatic ceiling rain head + handheld; and a wall-hung WC tucked into a small alcove behind a half-height tadelakt wall.

Technical Specifications

Beyond the master the cortijo has three further bedrooms, all en-suite: two on the first floor under the restored pitched roof (with exposed oak beams overhead) and one on the ground floor as a self-contained guest suite with step-free shower access. Each bedroom received the same antique terracotta floor, soft sand-rose tadelakt walls, recessed warm-LED accent lighting on the beam ends and bespoke fitted wardrobes in solid-oak joinery with matte-black wrought-iron pulls. The secondary bathrooms share a coordinated palette: continuous hand-trowelled tadelakt on walls and floor (no joints), single 1.2 m floating solid-oak vanities with integrated tadelakt basins, Cea Design Free Ideas brushed-stainless thermostatic showers, frameless walk-in glass screens, and antique-iron-framed mirrors with hidden warm LED behind. Each bathroom has individual KNX-zoned underfloor heating regulated from the iOS app — surprisingly modern given the heritage shell.

Technical Specifications

A full KNX backbone ties together 58 lighting zones (warm-2700 K, dim-to-warm everywhere — critical in a cortijo with so many warm natural surfaces), 14-zone underfloor heating fed by a Vaillant aroTHERM heat pump, 28 motorised Somfy blinds (custom-fitted into the heritage windows so the steel frames remain visible), the Crittall pivot doors at the principal openings, the pool plant, the Hydrawise irrigation controller and the alarm + CCTV. Wall-mounted Gira G1 touchscreens are placed one per major area — finished in matte black to read against the lime-plastered walls. Lighting design combines warm-2700 K recessed downlights between the oak beams (carefully detailed so the beams are not pierced), hidden warm cove uplighting along the lime-plastered ceiling perimeters, low-glare LED strips integrated into the beam ends to wash the wood, decorative wrought-iron lanterns over the kitchen island and dining table, and Bega in-ground uplighters along the perimeter walls and main approach paths. The cortijo is delivered with a dedicated PM + foreman + heritage-detail consultant on site daily, weekly written reports plus a live WhatsApp channel, a 2-year workmanship warranty plus a 5-year structural warranty on the restored roof, and a final handover dossier with KNX scenes explained, heritage-care guidelines, and a 12-month aftercare visit included.

Technical Specifications