La Zagaleta Villa

The client — a Northern European family who acquired the villa as a primary residence — commissioned a full renovation across all three levels of the property: lower ground (garage, laundry, gym, wine room — 80 m²), ground floor (entrance, kitchen, living, dining, study, guest bedroom + en-suite — 320 m²) and first floor (master suite + 3 bedrooms, all en-suite — 220 m²). Plus the entire exterior envelope and grounds (~1,200 m² plot). Our initial structural survey confirmed the reinforced-concrete frame and main slabs were in excellent condition. Three pre-works items were resolved before any visible works began: the existing terracotta-tiled pitched roof was demolished and rebuilt as a flat warm roof with rigid PIR insulation and a single-ply membrane; all original cold-water supply pipes (galvanised steel, partially corroded) were replaced in cross-linked polyethylene; and the original septic tank was decommissioned and the villa reconnected to mains drainage that had been extended through the urbanisation in 2018.

Technical Specifications

Material selection took three sessions at our Marbella showroom. Session one fixed the floors: the family chose polished ivory travertine 60×120 cm (Stone Italiana Travertino Bianco) for the entire interior — large-format, soft satin polish, slight natural movement — laid continuous from the entrance through to the principal living spaces, with subtly different bedroom layouts for warmth. Session two locked in the kitchen and joinery: a full Bulthaup b3 system in white-oak rift-cut with handleless fronts and brushed bronze hardware, paired with the Gaggenau 400 Series appliance suite (combi-steam oven, oven, warming drawer, integrated coffee machine, induction hob, two integrated fridge/freezer columns behind oak panels). Session three covered the bathrooms and exterior: Antonio Lupi ivory stone-composite freestanding bath in the master, Dornbracht VAIA brushed-bronze tapware throughout, and Bateig natural stone (a pale Spanish limestone, bush-hammered) for all external accent walls and pool coping. The dark interior counterpoint — slatted oak ceiling features and the living-room split-face stone wall — was selected as a single coordinated palette so the villa reads as one project, not seven rooms.

Technical Specifications

The exterior intervention was as substantial as the interior. The original ochre-stucco facade with its pitched terracotta roof was reskinned to contemporary Andaluz: smooth white silicone-resin render on the principal walls; Bateig natural-stone bush-hammered cladding on the entrance volume and on the living-room blade wall extending out to the terrace; deep flat-roof overhangs finished underneath with a dark white-oak slatted soffit that runs through the threshold into the interior soffits — a visual cue that the inside and outside are one space. The original 8 × 4 m tiled pool was demolished and rebuilt as a 14 × 4 m infinity-edge pool with a deep-grey Bisazza glass mosaic finish, Bateig stone bush-hammered coping and a hidden overflow channel returning to a buffer tank. Pool plant is full Fluidra: variable-speed pump, sand filter, saltwater chlorination, plus a Viessmann air-to-water heat pump tied into the villa's KNX system so the water can be pre-heated from the iOS app before arrival. Landscaping kept the mature olive trees as the structural planting and added Mediterranean low-water-use beds (lavender, rosemary, dwarf myrtle, agave, silver-leaf olive) with Hunter MP-Rotator drip irrigation on a Hydrawise smart controller.

Technical Specifications

The ground-floor reorganisation removed two non-load-bearing walls to convert a sequence of formal rooms into a single ~180 m² open-plan space stitched together by the continuous travertine floor and the dark-oak slatted ceiling features. The Bulthaup b3 kitchen runs ~7 m along the back wall with a floating 3.6 × 1.1 m central island in the same white-oak rift-cut joinery, topped with a single book-matched slab of light Calacatta-effect quartz with a 20 mm mitred drop edge. The Gaggenau Vario 400 Series induction cooktop sits flush in the island, and the two integrated Gaggenau fridge/freezer columns at the end of the back wall are panelled in matching oak so they read as continuous joinery rather than appliances. The living room is anchored by a tall Bateig split-face stone feature wall with a slim cantilevered horizontal slot fireplace and a wall-mounted Loewe TV recessed into the stone. The whole long elevation is frameless triple-track full-height sliding glazing that retracts entirely into a wall pocket, dissolving the boundary between living room and infinity-pool terrace.

Technical Specifications

The first-floor master suite was reconfigured as a single ~70 m² sequence of three connected rooms: bedroom, dressing room and en-suite bathroom. The bedroom has rift-cut white-oak parquet flooring (warmer underfoot than travertine for a sleeping space), a feature fluted-oak headboard wall running floor to ceiling, and a wide horizontal sliding-door opening to a private travertine terrace that captures the same golf-course panorama. The dressing room is a fully bespoke walk-in fitted in the same white-oak joinery — open-front hanging bays, soft-close drawer banks, integrated LED-lit shoe cubbies, and a central island with a leather-topped surface for jewellery and watches. The en-suite bathroom is the showpiece of the upper floor: a single 2.4 m floating travertine slab vanity with two integrated basins and brushed-bronze Dornbracht VAIA tapware; an Antonio Lupi Baia freestanding bath sat against a book-matched travertine feature wall under a tall window; a frameless walk-in shower with a 350 mm flush-mounted Dornbracht ceiling rain head and a single fixed pane of clear glass; and a wall-hung Duravit WC tucked behind a low travertine privacy screen.

Technical Specifications

Beyond the master suite the villa has four further bedrooms, all en-suite: three on the first floor (sized for older children and long-stay guests) and one on the ground floor (configured as a self-contained guest suite for elderly visitors, with step-free shower access). Each bedroom received the same warm white-oak rift-cut parquet, smooth white plaster walls, recessed cove uplighting and bespoke white-oak fitted wardrobes with brushed-bronze pulls. The secondary bathrooms share a more restrained but coordinated palette: polished travertine 60×120 cm on floors and walls, fluted white-oak vanity feature walls matching the master bedroom's headboard language, single 1.2 m floating travertine vanities with integrated basins, brushed-bronze Dornbracht tapware, walk-in showers with a single fixed pane of clear glass, and round antiqued-bronze mirrors. Each bathroom has individual underfloor heating zoning so the family can dial heat per room from the iOS app.

Technical Specifications

A full KNX smart-home backbone ties together all systems: 64 lighting zones (all dimmable LED, grouped by room, scene and time-of-day), 12-zone underfloor heating (Rehau Rautherm S water-based, fed by a Vaillant aroTHERM heat pump), 30+ motorised Somfy blinds, the Schüco sliding doors at the living-room threshold, the pool heat pump, the Hydrawise irrigation controller and the alarm + perimeter CCTV system. Wall-mounted Gira G1 touchscreens are placed one per major area; control also runs through the family's iOS devices. Lighting design combines warm-white 2700 K recessed downlights for general illumination with hidden warm cove uplighting along ceiling perimeters, accent spots on the Bateig feature walls, decorative bronze pendants over the kitchen island and dining table, and exterior up-lighters on the olive trees and entrance volume. The villa is delivered with a dedicated project manager + foreman on site daily, weekly written progress reports plus a live WhatsApp channel for the family, a 2-year workmanship warranty on all installations, and a final handover dossier with O&M manuals, KNX scene presets explained, and a 12-month aftercare visit included.

Technical Specifications