Los Monteros Hillside Villa

The client — a Swedish family acquiring the villa as a long-stay winter residence — commissioned a complete envelope and interior renovation plus a full pool and garden rebuild. The plot is roughly 900 m², set on an elevated bench in the upper Los Monteros valley with mature umbrella pines and Mediterranean canopy as a perimeter ring; the orientation captures the morning sun and a long view down the valley toward the bay in the distance. Total intervention: ground floor (entrance, open-plan living/kitchen/dining, study, guest suite — 240 m²) and a low first floor (master suite + 2 secondary bedrooms — 150 m²). Pre-works items resolved before fit-out: the original pitched terracotta roof was demolished and rebuilt as a flat warm roof with rigid PIR insulation; the 2001 single-glazed brown-aluminium windows were entirely replaced with slim bronze-anodised thermally-broken units; 316 stainless steel fixings were specified throughout the envelope as the premium-grade default; and the original cold-water supply was replaced in cross-linked polyethylene to the meter.

Technical Specifications

Material selection took two sessions. Session one fixed the floor and the walls: brushed European oak engineered parquet (220 mm wide planks, very subtle limewash finish — relaxed Mediterranean warmth, NOT a glossy luxury feel), and continuous Topciment soft sand-tone microcement on every interior wall (continuous, no joints, with the characteristic faint trowel marks visible on close inspection). Session two locked in the kitchen, sanitary and exterior: a full Poliform Varenna Phoenix kitchen in oak veneer + matte cream lacquer with the Miele Generation 7000 suite (induction with downdraft, combi-steam, oven, fully-integrated fridge + freezer columns); Agape sanitaryware including the Spoon XL freestanding tub; Vola brushed-brass tapware throughout (the 111 wall-mounted basin mixer is the signature); and the same Topciment microcement extended to the outdoor decks for a continuous floor reading from interior to terrace.

Technical Specifications

The original 8 × 4 m blue-tiled pool was demolished and rebuilt as a 12 × 3.5 m salt-chlorinated pool with sand-tone glass mosaic finish (Vidrepur Sahara), microcement coping continuous with the deck, and a hidden infinity-style perimeter overflow. Pool plant: full Fluidra variable-speed + sand filter + saltwater chlorination, paired with a Daikin Altherma 3 H air-to-water heat pump for shoulder-season heating. The exterior envelope — previously cream-and-yellow stucco — was reskinned in smooth oyster-white silicone-resin render with the deep flat-roof overhangs sized to provide effective summer shading on the long south elevation. Decks and terraces are continuous Topciment sand-tone microcement flowing through flush brushed-bronze thresholds into the interior parquet. Landscaping kept the mature umbrella pines (*Pinus pinea*, the signature tree of Los Monteros) as the canopy and added Mediterranean drought-tolerant beds with native Andalusian species (lavender, rosemary, lentisco/*Pistacia lentiscus*, jara/*Cistus albidus*, agave) on a Hydrawise smart irrigation controller.

Technical Specifications

The ground-floor reorganisation removed two non-load-bearing walls and locally raised the ceiling by lifting part of the first-floor slab to convert three formal rooms into a single ~175 m² double-height open-plan space stitched by the continuous brushed-oak parquet — the room measures 4.2 m at its highest point under a clean white-plastered ceiling vault. A linear suspended bioethanol fireplace in matte black steel floats centred on the longest wall as the room's anchor. The Poliform Varenna Phoenix kitchen runs ~5.5 m along the back wall with a floating 3.6 × 1.1 m central island in oak-veneer base + matte cream lacquer wall units, topped with a single slab of soft pale quartzite with a softened bevelled edge. The Miele Generation 7000 suite is anchored by an induction hob with integrated downdraft on the island; the integrated fridge + freezer columns sit at the end of the back run behind matching oak panels. The living area runs along the long elevation with a generous seating zone for ten plus a separate reading corner, opening through frameless quadruple-track sliding glazing that fully pockets to deliver a 9-metre-wide aperture onto the terrace and pool. A heavy wool rug in soft oat anchors the cream-bouclé corner sofa; one matte-bronze-and-glass floor lamp stands beside it; a wide low oak credenza along one wall holds a single ceramic vessel and a small framed abstract.

Technical Specifications

The first-floor master suite is a single ~50 m² sequence of bedroom, dressing room and en-suite. The bedroom has the same brushed European oak parquet, a soft-limewashed-plaster recessed headboard niche finished in a creamy off-white with subtle trowel marks, framed by hidden warm-LED cove lighting and flanked by cantilevered solid-bronze bedside shelves with integrated reading lights, and a wide horizontal sliding-door opening to a private microcement terrace that captures the morning light through the canopy of umbrella pines. The dressing room is a fully bespoke walk-in in matching matte cream lacquer + oak veneer. The en-suite bathroom features the Agape Spoon XL freestanding oval tub in matte white, centred against a feature wall in fluted limewash plaster (vertical reeded relief, off-white, hand-applied), with a slim full-height window framing the garden; a floating rift-cut oak double-basin vanity with integrated basins in solid honed Bianco Avorio limestone and Vola brushed-brass 111 wall-mounted taps; a frameless walk-in shower with a Vola brushed-brass thermostatic system and ceiling rain head; and an Agape wall-hung WC behind a slim half-height microcement wall.

Technical Specifications

Beyond the master the villa has two further bedrooms, both en-suite: one on the first floor and a self-contained ground-floor guest suite with step-free shower access and direct terrace opening. Each bedroom received the same brushed oak parquet, soft sand-tone microcement walls, recessed cove uplighting and bespoke fitted wardrobes in matching matte cream lacquer + oak veneer. The secondary bathrooms share a coordinated palette: continuous soft sand-tone microcement on walls and floor (no joints), single 1.2 m floating rift-cut oak vanities with integrated solid honed Bianco Avorio limestone basins, Vola brushed-brass thermostatic showers, frameless walk-in glass screens, and oval backlit smart mirrors with hidden warm LED. Each bathroom has individual KNX-zoned underfloor heating regulated from the iOS app.

Technical Specifications

A full KNX backbone ties together 42 lighting zones (warm-white 2700 K, dim-to-warm in living and bedrooms), 8-zone underfloor heating fed by a Daikin Altherma 3 H heat pump (the same unit serves the pool), 18 motorised Somfy blinds, the Schüco living-room sliding doors, 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-2700 K recessed downlights, hidden warm cove uplighting, accent spots on the limewash-plaster headboard niche, decorative natural-rattan pendants over the island and dining table, and Bega in-ground uplighters at the umbrella-pine trunks on the long evening side. The villa is delivered with dedicated PM + foreman on site daily, weekly written reports plus a live WhatsApp channel, a 2-year workmanship warranty, and a final handover dossier with KNX scenes explained and a 12-month aftercare visit included.

Technical Specifications