Location: Cadaques, Costa Brava Area, Catalunya, Spain, Europe (2 hours to Barcelona/ 1 hour Girona / 1.5 hrs Perpignan) View Map
Accommodations: Stone traditional Catalan hous, 3 Bedrooms, 2 Baths (Sleeps 6)
In town -- Wonderful location
SPECIAL OFFER FOR DECEMBER Dec 21st to Dec 26 850 euros for the two weeks ( paid in full six weeks prior to arrival)
The house was originally an inn for shepherds. It has thick stone walls, the old chimney and bread oven and a beautiful stone arch opening up the ground floor to be a large ktichen/reception.
Back in the seventies, my parents restored it as a Catalan stone house; simply roofed, white-washed, the second floor made whole again using old tiles when possible etc. -- and the house is still simply restored and not a villa.
Friends tell me it has the charm of an old vicarage. Others have dubbed it Casa Secreta. Lots of space/ upstairs with crystal chandeliers which came from a maharajah's palace/ lots of privacy to all staying there. Big wide open reception rooms/ bedrooms with high ceilings.
The patio is entered from the second floor level and has a slate breakfast table on a wrought iron base with flagstone bench. From the patio ascend steps which take one up to the terrace. The wide terrace has a long bar/marble topped, a half roof traditionally thatched, a plain dinner table also marble which can seat ten, bar-b-q, sink, two deck chairs in which to sit sipping an evening drink looking out on a spectacular view of the church and the sea. House also is a treasure trove of artwork ( Rajestani and french hanging tapestries, oil paintings from many Cadaques artists as well as English, American and Indian painters. And books, books, books. (English I am afraid) And In September the fig tree in the patio yields delicious figs.
Renee, who looks after the house, is fluent in English, Spanish, French and Swedish. She is also knowledgeable about Cadaques; its mountains walks, its music ferstival, its local ecology and can even organise you time with a Czech homeopathic doctor in Cadaques!
In summer the house's thick stone walls mean it is cool. In winter there is the downstairs fireplace and butano stove and heaters upstairs.
Re location -- one is instantly in the centre of the town walking round by the sea wall. Or a five minute walk to a tiny sandy beach near where Salvador Dali swam as a child ( remember the painting of a child peeling back the sea and there, is a dog) beyond this -- about a ten minute walk is a place for swimming off rocks and where many people ( not all) enjoy swimming as nature made them. Beyond this is the longish walk, along a rocky path heartened by lavender and rosemary, to the cebolla beach and the lighthouse opposite Cap de Creus.
Re rental - can rent per night but prefer to rent by the week and will always give priority to a weekly rental.
Re cleaning: There is a non-negotiable fee of 150 euros for cleaning. Also, it is 10 euros per person to hire sheets and six euros for a towel set ( but you are free to bring your own)
Re wood for the fire; Wood is provided but depending on your use it will be from 50 -100 euros for winter and spring rentals.
Re parking -- there is off-street parking which you can count on in winter and spring and in the summer is there sometimes. Always in summer you can find parking above the house and from there it is a short walk down the stairs. You can always park briefly in front of the house to unload suitcases or shopping.
Re -- if you are American and do not want to go thru changing into euros/pounds --it is possible to arrange payment by cheque in dollars.
PLEASE NOTE : --academic monthly rentals considered -- Feb-March at 1400 euros per month inclusive of electricity and water. Re Winter: winter is cold in Cadaques! The house is an old house with a big fireplace and two gas heaters -- but you will want sweaters, and layers even so!!!!! Spring can be cold but it is more variable and can be very sunny and mild. Summer, of course, is summer.
Vacation Rental Features
- Amenities
- Washer: downstairs in the blue tiled bathroom
- Dryer: next to the washer in the downstairs blue tiled bathroom
- Linens Provided: Renee handles all the linen -- there is a ten euro charge for a set of sheets and a 6 euro fee for a set of towels.
- Garage: none
- Covered Parking: none
- Off Street Parking: There is off street parking on solitario. And above the house there is parking which is usually available and can accomodate large cars.
- Wood Fireplace: wood can be ordered by Renee -- there will be a discretionary (50 -100) euro charge but unless all the wood is used some of that will be returned.
- Beds
- King Bed: Am not sure of its exact size but it is two single beds with one gigantic mattress which fits both and one head-board that spans both.
- Double Bed: downstairs -- can be a single bed as one bed can be pushed down and under the other one. usually used as a double bed.
- Twin/Single Bed: two single beds which can be pushed together to make a double bed if need be.
- Crib: there is one which folds up -- meant for travel. You must ask Renee for it.
- Entertainment
- CD Player
- Kitchen
- Full Kitchen
- Cooking Utensils Provided
- Refrigerator
- Dishwasher
- Outdoor Features
- Charcoal BBQ Grill: simple and serviceable
- Deck/Patio: described in description -- a place for breakfast
- Balcony: narrow
- Lanai: described in description and there are photos
- View/Location
- Beach View: over tiled roof-tops -- sea is not far and the view is from high and you can see both the fingers of els caiells and the cebolla lighthouse and the church
- Water View: as described
- Mountain View: mountain is behind and looms above the water --
- Monument View: chirch -- almost immediately behind -- at night it emerges from the black sharply carved out by its own spotlight -- lonely and spectral and somber and still.
- Suitability
- Pet Friendly: with agreement re what kind of animal
- Kid Friendly: but with the adults taking responsibility for supervision as the terrace is high and the steps are stone etc
- Activities (on site and nearby)
- Tennis
- Shopping
- Sightseeing
- Restaurants
- Kayaking
- Sailing
- Boating
- Swimming
- Snorkeling/Diving
- Windsurfing
- Biking
- Wildlife Viewing
- Hiking
- Fishing
- Fitness Center/Gym
- Antiquing
- Live Theatre
- Museums
- Miniature golf
- Horseback Riding
- Other Activities
- several art galleries and a music festival in august
Rate Details (In Euros)
Jun ...... 1000 euros
Jul ...... 1200/week
Aug ...... 1600 euros/wk
Sep ...... 1200 euros per week ( only 1 wk left; aug 30 - sept 5th)
Oct 3rd -Nov 15 .. 400 per week-end ..650 euros/wk or 800 euros for 2 weeks
Dec- Jan. 400 per week-end. 500 euros/wk (Christmas-New Year 1000 euros/wk)
Feb - March ..400 euros per week-end ..450 euros/wk (1400 monthly)
April-May 400/wkend 650 euoros/wk 850/2 wks 1000/easter
Note: Until confirmed, rates are subject to change without notice.
Map & Owner's Profile
Year Purchased: 1969
Why the Owner Chose Cadaques
Years ago -- in 1969 -- my parents decided they wanted to retire to Europe. We rented a car and drove from Madrid to Barcelona then along the med coast all the way to what was then Yugoslavia but failed to find anything which was either unspoiled or within my parents range of possibility to purchase. We came back to Spain along the coast road very late at night and in fog. My parents were unhappy driving as we could scarcely see and what we did see was the cliff way down to the SEA. A sign emerged stating Rosas 7, Cadaques 5. So we took the 5. And went to the most expensive hotel for one night. We awoke in paradise -- the unspoiled fishing village of my parent's dreams. It turns out to have been the childhood home of Salvador Dali and was famous then because of him and populated by a lot of both good and wannabe artists. We down-sized by the day in hotels till we came to rest with a lovely Cadaques family who adopted us. With equal luck we met a contractor who was tinged by madness and had once sailed round Cap de Creus in a super-sized paella pan and he took us round to a selection of ruins. My parents bought one. my mother was left to restore it. My father and I went back to East pakistan and not long after East pakistan became bangladesh and we were evacuated and a Spanish civil War -torn Cadaques family -- those who had adopted us -- greeted us with open arms and said " We thought you were dead'. We had come to Cadaques for good. And the connection between Bangladesh and Spain never really left my heart.
The Unique Benefits at this Stone traditional Catalan hous
The house has changed in that much has been renewed -- namely the plumbing and electrics but the charm of the way houses were in the 70's has stayed and I find i miss that elsewhere in Cadaques. It was loved by my parents. And it has been loved by many of my friends who have stayed there since and given me the pleasure of entertaining in a beautiful place where I know many lovely people and have seen the changes which occur in a still quiet corner of the world -- something my peripatetic childhood never gave me but which has returned via my childhood now -- late in life -- the pleasure of being anchored in a place that has always welcomed strangers and made them part of its soul.
Now an old people's home for Cadaquesencs only with a really pretty good restaurant not for tourists!!!!
Owner's Map of Cadaques
I am a playwright. The house is where i grew up from the age of 14 -- my father a retired diplomat and second world war correspondent for NBC. i go to Cadaques at least once every summer. But no house likes being empty so i try to rent the house through the rest of the summer and sometimes thru the winter.
Property Photos
- view of church from terrace. Sea to the right - Cadaques, Spain Vacation House
- terrace looks out on sea/church. Also has marble topped table seats 10 - Cadaques, Spain Vacation House
- terrace -- looks out on panorama of sea and church - Cadaques, Spain Vacation House
- patio
- kitchen viewed from downstairs reception
- fireplace
- upstairs bedroom 1
- exterior
- bedroom downstairs
- 2nd upstairs bedroom
- downstairs bathroom
- stairs
- upstairs going out to patio and then terrace
- exterior
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Vacation Rentals by Owner Listing #138257
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This listing was first published here in 2007.
Date last modified - November 02, 2009
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