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).

Staff: Can Cunill's absentee Swiss owner has entrusted his property to a very competent and friendly housekeeper who lives and owns a café in nearby Sils town. Her name is Neus and she 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. If you read the Comment´s Page you will have have heard about Horst, the owner´s trusted guardian and gardener, who used to live in the second largest house on the property, the one next to the round pool. Well, Horst has moved on and now Can Cunill is 100% private and only for guests. I repeat: there is no longer a live-in guardian at Can Cunill.

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 sliding doors leading out to the garden and large back pool. 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.)

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 a real expresso machine that uses individual Nescafé capsules provided by the house, an American-style drip coffee machine, and the usual screw-top traditional Spanish expresso maker. Really and truly, this kitchen is unique.

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 affords priceless views of the area, but best of all, excellent views of the property itself! I made a short movie from up here I'd be happy to send you.

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. This is important as the living and sleeping part of the house is well separated, meaning that those who wish to stay up late can do so without bothering those who wish to turn in early.

The bedrooms: Beyond the TV -reading room is an wide atrium under skylights and a handsome beamed roof and a large old cupboard full of information about the Costa Brava, including a loan-copy of my 90-page Insider's Guide to the Province of Girona, as well as other information on activities on offer in the area taken from the local tourism offices. 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 bedroom with a number.

Bedroom 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 large (2x2m) 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 10 steps from this room. I always stay in room 3 and my kids stay in room 2, and I prefer to use the outdoor bathrooms in summer.

Going up the elegant wide staircase to the first floor, 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 hallway, one to each of the two bedrooms, and one to the bathroom. This ensures privacy and noise-proofing...

Working our way around the hallway to the right, the next room (6) has two single beds and a wash basin. Then there is the hall bathroom with a shower stall. Then comes another bedroom (7) with two single beds and a wash basin. Both rooms 6 and 7 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 bedrooms behind a hall doorway for privacy and noiseproofing, (rooms 8 and 9), both with two single beds and wash basin, 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 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 rooms except room 10 have a washbasin. Again, all bedrooms have air conditioning with individual thermostat settings, plenty of closet space and night tables with reading lights. 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 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...

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 the peak high-season summmer prices, a group of 20 guests pay just over 42 Euros per person per 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?

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

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Charlie Williams
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