Beautifully Restored Andalucía Farmhouse to Rent

Sleeps 12, 6 bedrooms

A perfect escape for families or groups, Las Almendras is an exceptionally spacious farmhouse, beautifully restored but with many original features.

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Las Almendras is now listed in Alistair Sawday's Special Places to Stay.

Inside the House

Las Almendras is an old farmhouse, once home to a range of animals as well as people! A downstairs bedroom still has the stable door out of which the donkey could hang his head, and the upstairs sun room was an open area, home to doves and drying peppers. The house formerly had feed bins upstairs in the bathroom and the bedrooms, and its old roof was filled with nesting birds. Some still return to make their nests on the window sills.

Traditional features, like the cane and wooden beam ceilings typical of this area, give this house real character, alongside more modern comforts. There is plentiful hot water, a spacious modern kitchen with all appliances, washing machine and utility room for drying, four bathrooms with showers and one with a bath.

Local carpenters have built wooden fitted cupboards in traditional style, combining comfort and charm, and making it easy for you to unpack and feel at home.

Downstairs

You come in by the front door to the entrance hall with stairs going up to the top floor.

On your right is a spacious fitted kitchen in natural wood with dishwasher, oven and hob, microwave, two large fridges. Beyond this is a sitting area, with coffee table and chairs and wood burning stove. Doors lead out to the porch or summer dining room with barbeque and pool access.

Ahead of you, stairs go up to the upper floor, and a door leads through to the passageway for the washing utility area with washing machine and beyond that the small double “donkey bedroom” and bathroom.

On your left is the large winter dining room and sitting room. Ten or twelve can eat here, and there is a wood burning stove with sofas. Candelabra chandeliers make the room a beautiful setting for a late dinner.

Ahead, you enter the cosy middle sitting room with TV and DVD player, stereo.

Beyond this, the back hall is filled with bookshelves with a huge selection of books and DVDs. A door goes out to the back garden – a lovely place to have breakfast as the sun comes up. Off the hall are: a utility room where you can dry clothes and will find beach towels and other useful bits and pieces. There's a spare fridge here for drinks. Also off the hall is the Blue bedroom — a spacious double with bathroom and plenty of cupboard space.

Upstairs

As you go up from the entrance hall you come to the Sleigh bedroom, with its own dressing room and wooden sleigh double bed. A bathroom with bath is to the left – you will find a range of medicines and useful necessities in the chest of drawers here. To the right the central games room. Here, there are plenty of games and toys to borrow, and space for children to play safely. Going through the games room, you come to a landing leading to two bedrooms – the Rhino bedroom (a stuffed rhino presides) with its bathroom and the White bedroom with bathroom. A few steps lead down on the left to the study with bookshelves, desk and a wood burning stove - and beyond that the sunroom, with windows on all sides and a double sofa bed. Here, you have lovely views over the tropical garden and at night, a vista of stars. On the right, a huge bedroom with bed and pull-out bed faces over the pool.

Outside

Las Almendras was for many years a traditional Spanish farmhouse, as you can see from the stables with their old caves, the ancient wine press and the old woodshed and chicken coops.

Las Almendras means “The Almonds” and almonds are still grown over much of this part of the countryside, alongside olives, oranges and lemons. Dry river beds, or “ramblas” criss-cross the area, great for walking in complete tranquillity.

Cypresses shield the pool, while a tropical garden of yuccas and palms provides welcome shade beyond.

A traditional stone threshing circle where villagers came to thresh the grain lies to the back of the house, while at the pool-side features are a rustic bread oven and old olive tree with a stone bench around it.

There are sun terraces on both sides of the house, and a large field beyond the pool leads down to the valley, and many beautiful walks through the olives and almonds.

White and black fig trees, pomegranates, prickly pears and citrus fruits grow in abundance round the house.

The house is set slightly apart from the small farming hamlet of Los Herreras. Birdsong in the morning and goat bells in the evening as local goatherd Alberto leads his flock out to graze are among the few sounds in this tranquil place, famous for its rare bird life.

You may see an eagle above the hills beyond the house or a hoopoe along the road, or sight a wild boar wandering under the stars at night. Lower down, rock thrushes and blue rock thrushes can be seen along the road to the valley, along with many other unusual birds.

The Local Area

Las Almendras is in the small village of Los Herreras, in the Sierra de Los Filabres, a quiet area of Almería province, in eastern Andalucía. Much less well known than other parts of Andalucía, Almería is a largely agricultural province. Here you will find the unspoiled beaches of the Cabo de Gata — not a hotel or house in sight, the desert of Tabernas, the famous Arab town of Mojacar and the caves and pottery of Sorbas.

The Filabres are rolling hills or low mountains averaging 1500 metres high, stretching around 50 kilometres west towards Granada just over two hours away and east to the coast. Pine trees and scented plants, including herbs like thyme, grow in abundance. There are very few official paths, but the dry river beds, or ramblas, that form a network over the hills, mean it is easy to walk for miles.

Nearby - Rambla Aljibe and Lubrin

Bar Lopez, ten minutes drive away in the village of Rambla Alhibe, is a great place to have a drink and tapas. Beyond that, the market town of Lubrín is still very traditional, with its weekly market and frequent local fiestas. There are four or five good places to eat and all the basics like banks, butcher, baker, small supermarkets and a chemist. About ten minutes further on, in the village of El Marchal is the popular Paniajo bar, run by Jessica and Anne-Marie, where you may hear live music but will certainly have excellent food and company.

Your local town - Vera

Vera, on the coast, is about half an hour away and the nearest town for a big supermarket. There is a good Saturday market with everything from local honey to fake designer sunglasses. The central square with huge honey coloured church among the trees, has a very pleasant café for drinks and ice creams. About 5 minutes from here and a great place to eat is the bar and restaurant at the small hotel Terraza Carmona. Vera has an enormous sandy beach and just outside town, a huge water park that is very popular with children. Grown ups can find some grass and shade and lie down with a book while they go mad on the rides.

Sightseeing & Visits

Lorca

Lorca, which is about an hour to an hour and a half away over the border in Murcia, is really worth a visit, with a large, well preserved castle, a Renaissance palace, and more sophisticated shops and restaurants. You can also make the longer 2.5 hour trip to Murcia itself, though this is quite hard work for a day trip and means leaving early. Murcia is a very elegant and little known town, with a university quarter, cathedral and many beautiful old buildings. For sophisticated eating, El Rincón de Pepe, near the cathedral, is really hard to beat.

Our favourite bar: Paniajo
Another favourite: Las Brisas in Villaricos
Theme Parks

Beaches, Villaricos and beyond, Cabo de Gata

You are spoiled for choice when it comes to beaches! For those who like snorkelling, clear water and rocky coves, head north towards Villaricos and beyond. Villaricos itself is a relaxed sandy beach, with one lovely beach bar, Las Brisas, where you can have a great lunch under a bamboo roof. Going north along the coast road, there are many wonderful coves accessed by side roads. Heading south to San José, a small fishing port in the Cabo de Gata natural park, you can find completely unspoiled and stunning beaches with sand dunes, rock climbs and clear blue waters. San José is a great day trip — in summer there are souvenirs, stalls and a lively, mainly Spanish, tourist scene — and Agua Amarga up the coast is a slightly quieter and smarter pretty seaside village.

Tabernas

If the weather's not great up at the house, head for Tabernas. It's almost bound to be hot and dry here— and there is plenty to do.

South of the Filabres and about half an hour to the east of the house, Tabernas is Europe's only desert, a dramatic, lunar landscape with gullies and ravines. There's also a pleasant market town of the same name, with a much refurbished hill-top castle.

Since the 1950s, the desert has been used as a location for shooting Westerns, such as "The Good the Bad and the Ugly". Driving along you can see sets with crooked trees and shacks still used for filming. There are three film studios Texas Hollywood, Mini Hollywood, and Western Leone to visit — clearly signposted along the main road — and, fabulous for children, Oasys — a beautifully landscaped large wildlife and theme park, where you can watch a parrot show, a Wild West mime enacted on horseback, visit a Wild West saloon with can-can dancing, dress up as cowboys or Indians and see animals of all kinds.

For birdwatchers, this is an area for spotting all sorts of birds, including Stone Curlews, Trumpeter Finches, and Crested Larks.

Not far off, above the ancient fortress town of Gergal, the hills of the Sierra de Los Filabres rise to their highest point. Here, visible against the skyline, is the famous Calar Alto observatory — a joint venture between the Max Planck Institute and the Observatory of Madrid and home to one of the largest telescopes in Europe.

Sorbas

Sorbas is about half an hour to 40 minutes from the house, driving east into the protected natural area called Karst en Yesos de Sorbas. Karst is a dramatic landscape which is famous as one of the best examples of Karst geology, where rock has been worn into dramatic shapes limestone caverns have formed below the surface.

Yeso means gypsum in Spanish. (You may have noticed the Yedesa plant as you take the road up to the house from the motorway — this is making gypsum for the construction industry.)

The picturesque old town of Sorbas clings to the edge of a cliff, dropping dramatically to the ravine below. It's a pretty place to wander about, famous for its pottery workshops where visitors can buy beautiful one-off decorative ceramics as well as more ordinary china — and often watch the artists at work. There is a market on Thursdays in the central square. Just outside the town and well signposted, you can visit the famous caves and take a guided tour. There's a visitor centre in Sorbas with all the information.

Mojacar

The old Arab town of Mojacar is a lovely day trip from the house. You can combine a trip to the beach (Mojacar Playa) with a walk around the old Arab hilltown about ten minutes inland — there are great places to eat in both. Just by the Tourist Information kiosk on the beach front are two wonderful bars where you can eat right by the sea. The white old town is poised on top of a hill, with shops, bars and cafes tumbling down the slopes. The ancient gateway to the town survives, covered in bougainvillea, and there's a wonderful view over the whole valley. You can shop for antiques or souvenirs and then do the easy walk to the very top of the mainly pedestrianized town.

What Our Guests Say

Travel and Directions

Flights

There are regular EasyJet and Ryanair flights to Almería airport. Ryanair, which flies from Stansted, goes most of the year except the winter, departing in the late afternoon from London and arriving in the evening. On the return flight, Ryanair leaves in the evening from Almeria and arrives late in Stansted.

Easyjet flights from Gatwick go mid morning and arrive lunch time, and leave around the same times from Almeria.

Directions

It's about an hour from the airport to the house. Take the motorway towards Murcia (north) until you come to the second turnoff for Sorbas. Take this, and head towards Sorbas, turning off right to Lubrín, our local town. Passing Lubrín, continue on the same road to Rambla Alhibe, where you turn off on the country road up into the hills. It's about ten minutes up this winding road to the house. Click here to download detailed directions.

Arrival and Practicalities

Kim and Lucy Clark look after Las Almendras, and will make you very welcome. We will give you their phone numbers and email and you can contact them for help at any time.

They can meet you at the nearby bar and guide you up to the house, and will show you round, explaining everything you need to know.

They can also organise a welcome food package – we provide basics anyway – but if you let us know what you’d like we can have a shop ready to save you time.

If you need any help with anything in particular - from cots to a prepared lunch - just ask in advance and we can arrange most things.

Guide to house and surroundings [PDF]

Prices and Availability

We’re pleased to say we’re getting busy for 2012! Book your escape to Las Almendras now!

Call 44 (0)7753 83248 or email Juliet@andaluciafarmhouse.com

2012 prices are as follows:

January, February and first two weeks March: low season	£500 per week
Last two weeks March, April, May, June: mid season	£750 per week
July and August: high season	£1000 per week
September, October: mid season	£750 per week
November December: low season	£500 per week

E-mail or call Juliet on 44 (0)7753 83248 to reserve. We take a deposit of 25% to make the booking and will then mark the calendar as booked.

The remainder is payable two weeks before you leave. Payments are by bank transfer, though if you are based in Spain and coming for a short stay, you can pay locally in Euros on arrival.

We have been lucky to have wonderful guests, so we don’t ask for a breakage deposit – we trust you to tell us if we need to replace something, and offer us something to pay for it. But if the party includes over 6 adults or over 6 children, we do ask for a weekly supplement of £100 per adult and £50 to cover additional wear and tear, cleaning and energy bills.

See full details at Owner's Direct

Check Availability

Contact Details

If you are interested in learning more about Las Almendras, please let me know.

The property is ideal for several families holidaying together, or for a group to rent for a small residential course.

There is lots more information available, so please ask.

Email juliet@andaluciafarmhouse.com or call me on the number below and I will either speak to you straight away or return your call.

Within the UK: 07753 832487

Outside the UK: 447753 832487