17th Century Castle on Dalmatian island

I am on the left of the photo. I am British and we live in London. We spent between 2001-2014 living in Bosnia and Slovenia. We bought the house in 2005 but only finished the restoration project in 2013, since then we have been doing the interior. We have only just put the house on the market - starting rather late in June 2016. This is our first year!

I work for a large development bank in London and work a lot in Eastern Europe. We have two kids and used to have a lovely old mongrel dog from Sarajevo. My wife and I both grew up in Italy and this project is a real "once in a lifetime".

If you are seeking a stone dalmatian house then Kastel Spanič is a classic.

We have spent the last 6 years restoring the property under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture as it is a listed building and categorised as a National Monument.

The Bishop of Korčula built Kastel Spanič in 1674. With a dominant view over the Adriatic it served the purpose of providing advance notice of any sea borne threat as well as ensuring that the inhabitants of Čara paid their dues. The original fortifications still exist and include 16 firing ports or “gun loops” and four “bartizans” at each corner of the top room looking down on to the ground. The house is one of the island’s more important historical buildings. The Spanič family crest of three roses and mailed fist holding a sword still adorns the house.

Korčula is one of three islands that dominate the southern Adriatic coast of Croatia (the other two being Hvar and Brać). It is 46 kilometres in length, with good roads connecting its two ports of Korčula and Vela Luka to the mainland hubs of Split and Dubrovnik.

Trojans, Romans, Illyrians have been settling on the island on the Dalmatian coast since C12th BC. The Venetians held considerable sway over the island and Marco Polo is reputed to have come from the main town of Korčula. Korčula was the last outpost of the Venetian Empire for 200 years. Immediately to the south lies the Dubrovnik Republic.

Čara, the village, is one of the oldest settlements on the island of Korčula and spreads out on the south slope of the surrounding hills, just above a large and fertile field called Čarsko Polje, famed for its Pošip white wine. Čara enjoys a lot of sunshine all year round, while at the same time enjoying a good sea breeze.

The house is designed for those wishing to enjoy the more traditional island way of life. You are surrounded by sea and vineyards and it is removed from the tourist centres of the island. It offers the opportunity to enjoy the small but unique village life of a wine-growing community. Access to the sea is by car - with the closest swimming made of secret coves and small outcrops rarely accessed by most tourists. The local harbour town is 1.4 kilometres away with two restaurants and a coffee shop with wi-fi, and a great harbour wall to leap off. From here you can hire boats to farther outlying islets, secret inaccessible coves and near-tropical beaches close to the island of Lastovo - Croatia’s farthest inhabited island before Italy.

Check our house website: www.kastelspanic.com