Can Cunill, a magnificent villa for rent on Spain's Costa Brava.

an aerial shot, Can Cunill has 8,000 m2 of gardens

Can Cunill, originally dating from 1583, is one of our most luxurious, and curiously enough, one of our most popular properties. This is probably because Can Cunill is an excellent property for larger and smaller groups alike and the property exudes a special kind of charm. Can Cunill in fact offers comfort on a scale unrivaled by any other properties I have seen, anywhere. Just two examples why: Can Cunill is the only villa with two large pools set in a gorgeous garden with great views, and this is the only villa that has truly adecuate modern kitchen and dining facilites indoors and outdoors for larger parties.

House driveway, garage, and pond

Click here for comments on this house from past visitors

Click here for travel information on this area

Click here for 26 more photos and movies and QTRs of Can Cunill

independent masia of 1700m2 + 8 hectaires of private grounds

sleeps up to 20 or so in 9 or 10 rooms, depending on how you count-see description below

wash-basin in each room, 5 bathrooms (plus 2 near pool)

central heating and air conditioning in 8 of the rooms

altitude: 100mtr, 22 km to sea, 4 km to town, 1 hour to Barcelona

10 kms to PGA Golf at Caldes, 4 other courses within 30kms

1 km to tennis court, 35 kms to Formula One Circuit at Montmelo, 10 kms to spa towns

Main pool and pool-house surrounded by flower beds

caretaker at your beck and call

telephone and ADSL wide-band internet connection

wide-screen satelite TV, video, DVD & CD/radio/cassette player

double everything: 2 dishwashers, 2 washers, 2 dryers, 2 hobs, 2 extractors.

weekly house cleaning and linens included, additional cleaning available

catering of traditional Catalan cuisine available upon request - about 30 Euros per adult, kids free

2 large pools: 12.5m x 6m, and a massive 10m-round kiddy pool

Saturday to Saturday in mid and high-season

Rates by dates:

low-season: 2100 Euros/week

5/5-5/6: 3325 Euros/week

5/6-26/6: 4035 Euros/week

26/6-17/7: 5520 Euros/week

17/7- 28/8: 5950 Euros/week

28/8-25/9: 4035 Euros/week

25/9-23/10: 3325 Euros/week

Off-season weekend bookings welcome: 1350 Euros, plus 350 Euros for extra nights.

Location: Can Cunill is a magnificent estate located south of Girona, 22 kilometers inland from the beach resorts of the southern Costa Brava, including Blanes, Lloret de Mar, and Tossa de Mar. Situated amidst fields and pine woods 4 kilometers from a small village, Riudarenes, with plenty of shopping and good restaurants, the house is set at the end of a 150-meter long private driveway and a remote control gate. While offering a sense of privacy and even seclusion, the house is also within 10 kilometers of the Province's main traffic arteries (the AP-7, the N-II north/south and the C-63 and the C-35 going east/west from mountain to the beaches).

Huge living room with chimney Staff: Can Cunill's absentee Swiss owner has entrusted his property to a very competent and friendly housekeeper who owns a café in nearby Sils town. Neus also offers to prepare meals for guests - meals optional, of course - for about 25 to 30 Euros per person depending on menu and number of guests (10 minimum) and the wines chosen - and has been known to catering for up to 60 guests for poolside celebrations. If you read the comments from past visitors, you will get some idea of Neus's importance in the scheme of things at Can Cunill. Neus, who lives in nearby Sils, is great at anticipating guest´s needs, but there is also a full-time guardian who lives on the property and is closer at hand if you need anything. Horst, like the owner, is Swiss, and he lives in the small house just to the left of the main driveway and entryway. Horst is a character but he's indispensable when it comes to security, maintainence, gardening, and upkeep in general. So here there is a bit of Horst´s Swiss efficiency mixed in with the Neus´s layed-back Mediterranean charm...

The dining room seats about 25 guests at three tables, and is a clean well-lighted place The house: The main house, a fortified masia, was originally built in 1583. Although totally renovated and adapted to a high standard of modern comfort, many fine details of the original structure have been conserved. The furniture and decoration is also in keeping with traditional Catalan masias, though windows have been enlarged to allow in more natural light. Balconies and covered terraces have also been added.

There are several convenient entrances on all four sides of the house. Of the 6 or 7 doorways, it is hard to say which is the main entrance (I always use the kitchen entrance as I´m always coming in with shopping) but perhaps the main entrance opens onto the main central living room (65m2) with a fireplace, several sofas, and large bay windows overlooking the garden. There are several other sitting rooms, including an sunny reading room (also with TV and another large fireplace) with 2 sofas and wide french doors opening onto the garden. (The main living room may be used as a conference center as the owners have the necessary equipment for technical presentations.)

The large kitchen is amazingly well equipped
Adjacent to the living room is a large dining room (45m2) with three tables (one table is circular, one is oval, and one is rectangular) seating about 24 and equipped with 3 full sets of silverware and plates and all kinds of glasses. Everyone who stays here agrees that the kitchen is amazingly well-equipped: and includes a large fridge, an additional freezer, 2 large Miele dishwashers, two stovetops: one burning gas and the other electric (plus oven, plus microwave, and even an indoor barbecue!), not to mention the two separate sinks, and all the nice extras, such as the wide array of coffee making devices: including an real expresso machine, an American-style drip coffee machine, and the usual screw-top traditional Spanish expresso maker. Really and truly, this kitchen is unique.

The stairway up to the bedrooms is quite grand, and I love the Morrocan lightshade and tiled roof

On the other side of the dining room from the kitchen is a covered outdoor terrace with white-painted wrought iron chairs and tables under dripping blue wisteria and facing a venerable old Cedar tree. This outdoor dining area so close to the kitchen is ideal for al fresco breakfasts. In a corner partially blocked off by large potted plants for child safety is the spiral art-nouveau staircase leading up to the 5 or 6 wrung ladder up to the observation tower which affordspriceless views of the area, but best of all, excellent views of the property itself!

So one side of the house consists of kitchen, dining rooms (indoor and out), a large living room, a smaller reading/TV room, and a small toilet off the living room. Each of these rooms has large doors which can be closed to give privacy. Beyond the reading room is an wide atrium under skylights and a handsome beamed roof and a large olf cupboard full of information about the Costa Brava, including a loan-copy of my 85-page Insider's Guide to the Province of Girona - Costa Brava and Low-Pyrenees, and other information on activities on offer in the area. The bedrooms are articuled around this three story atrium. The room count is a bit tricky to describe, so to help you keep track, I will identify each room mentioned with a number.

Ground floor double bedroom has a fireplace and direct access to garden poolside

Room distribution : Beyond the atrium, on the ground floor there are three bedrooms separated by a hallway with yet another entrance and hallway (this could be a private three bedroom part of the house with own entrance. Let´s start describing and numbering the rooms: facing the round pool is a bedroom (1) with 2x2 meter double bed and private bathroom with walk-in shower. On the other side of the hall, there are two good-sized bedrooms facing the larger rectangular pool (rooms 2 and 3), one room with double bed, and the other with two single beds. The bathroom for these two rooms is across the nice flagstone hallway and has a full bathtub. Rooms 2 & 3 need some explaining: this was once a large suite with anteroom or living room with fireplace. The living room now has two single beds in it and so has become a bedroom. A door separates these two rooms, and you have to go through room 2 to get to room 3, except that room 3 has direct access to the garden, so you don´t really have to go through room 2, and the outdoor bathrooms in the gazebo-type building above the pool is just across the walkway from this room. I always stay in room 3 and my kids stay in room 2, and I use the outdoor bathrooms.

this is the second room with direct access to garden, this is the room I like to stay in Going up the wide staircase around the interior courtyard/atrium, all but one of the remaining bedrooms is distributed around the first floor stairway. First - to your left at the top of the stairs - there is hallway door leading in to a large two bedroom suite consisting of a large room (4) with 2x2 meter double bed and a private large terrace with wicker seating area overlooking the big pool, and across the suite's private hallway, another bedroom (5) overlooking the round pool with three single beds. These two rooms in this private family suite are separated by a large bathroom which has both a shower stall and a full bathtub and a long double sink, and both bedrooms have sinks in the room. It is important to note that this two bedroom suite has a central hallway with four doors, one to the stairway, one to each of the two bedrooms, and one to the bathroom. This ensures privacy and noise-proofing...

the downstairs hallway has direct access to the back side of the house Working our way around the central atrium to the right, the next room (6) has two single beds. Then there is the hall bathroom with a shower stall. Then comes another bedroom (7) with two single beds - both of these rooms look out over the back of the house, where there are magnificent cedar trees. At the far end of the hall and behind another hallway door, there is another two bedroom suite, (8 and 9), both with two single beds, and one room with a balcony looking out over the big pool.

Upstairs on the second floor, in what used to be the exercise room, under the eaves and so sometimes a bit warm in summer, is a sort of slumber party room (10) with three single beds and a low-window overlooking the pool. This room is popular with kids as it is all alone up here on the top floor.

All rooms are exterior, and all except room 10 have a washbasin and mirror, closet space, night tables with reading lights, and an air conditioning unit. There are three additional single beds (real beds - not fold outs) stored in a utility closet just in case. All single beds are 90x190cm, so if pushed together make a good-sized double.

the upstairs double bedroom suite sharing a bathroom has a lovely arched terrace overlooking the pool The house is full of little nooks of every description: for example just off the downstairs wash room and 2 or 3 car garage there is a bricolage corner full of all kinds of tools for the handyman. From here, the waivey art-nouveau circular stairway leads perilously up through near the dining room to the small watch tower (see photo) with great views of the property, etc...

The garden: But by far the most extraordinary aspect of this house is the garden, which measures 8,000 square meters, and is tended by a full-time gardener year-round. On one side of the house is the shallow kiddy pool measuring 10 meters round, and on the other side of the house a large pool measuring 12.5 x 7, with maximum depth of 2.5 meters. Near the poolside is a very impressive covered barbecue area, with indoor or outdoor sitting for over 50 guests. Along with the barbecue, there is also an oven, a refrigerator, a dishwasher, and of course a double sink. Nearby is a little building with a two showers and two bathrooms so that you don't have to go indoors to go. Around the garden there are several places to sit and enjoy the peaceful and beautifully landscaped surroundings, and there are some games such as a badminton and a ping-pong table.

In short, Can Cunill is much more than your typical Catalan farmhouse. In fact, it is the only house of its kind that I know of in Catalonia. While comfortable for families and groups, this house can also accommodate larger groups of 20 or more. The ideal garden setting and Neus, the caretaker's, incredible organizational skills also make Can Cunill a excellent venue for wedding parties and other gatherings. I should say here that large parties such as weddings are only welcome in the off-season, from October to May.

What's more, I think Can Cunill is very reasonably priced for what it offers, (e.g. using summer high-season prices, a group of 15 guests pay just over 55 Euros per person/night. In the low-season, 15 guests pay just 23 Euros per person/night!, and if you were only 10 guests, it comes to 34 Euros per person/night! So why wait?