• independent house (150m2) with 4 rooms - 2 with double beds, two with 2 single beds - and three full baths
• central heating, washer-dryer, dishwasher, microwave, etc
• new private fenced-in 9x6 meter pool (April 2008)
• altitude: 166 mtrs, 30 km to sea, 35 km to Girona, 120 kms to Barcelona
• 1 kilometer walk to town and shops and restaurants and cafés
• new 9x4 meter fenced-in saline private swimming pool
• 300 meters from lovely historic village and 500 mts to municipal pool (open 24/6-15/9)
• pets allowed
• rental rates: mid-June to mid-September, 1675 Euros/week, 1400 Euros/week rest of year

As you can see from the photos, and if you like well-preserved traditional houses, Casa Palau is one of the most beautiful houses we offer. Set on an olive grove and vineyard (the Catalan-French owners grow Merlot and Sauvignon as well as local varietals), Casa Palau is on a hilltop overlooking Agullana, a still prosperous ex-cork-producing town with a year-round population of about 650 inhabitants - more in summer. The town is full of attractive turn-of-the-century buildings with art-nouveau touches, and an impressive Romaneque church. Agullana is 3 km from the main roads linking Barcelona and the French border, a not very attractive area than can be avoided by taking the back roads but is useful for the number of very large supermarkets there, with both French and Spanish products sold at lower prices than in France (the French always do a big shopping and load up with gas before crossing over into home).

This is one of those houses that is so well preserved that you could easily imagine it turned into a museum of pre-modern era agricultural living. The kitchen boasts a number of reminders of the past, including the large original hearth fronted by a wooden high-backed beach (to keep the heat in), grinding stones, the old stone sink, and plenty of original hand-painted tiles.

While attractive the kitchen is also highly functional, with dishwasher, gas-top and electric stove, a large fridge, and lots of modern conveniences. There is a washroom nearby with washer and dryer.

It is unusual for me to start a description of a house with the kitchen, but this kitchen is inviting as another sitting area to rival the large living/dining room, and even has a small bathroom near the washroom. Let's face it. If you like cooking and the therapy of food prep, a nice kitchen is a big plus. Oh, and there is a purpose-built stone barbecue just outside the kitchen door to the garden.

The living quarters occupy the ground floor of this large house. The large dining/living room measures about 70m2 under a barrel-vaulted terra cotta ceiling. Antique wood predominates, and there is a TV and a CD/radio/cassette player. The four rooms are situated around this central living room, each room with handsome cherrywood doors and frames. Three rooms, two with double beds and one with two singles, share a bathroom in the hall. The large master bedroom has two beds of the unusual size of 120cm-wide each, slightly less than a double, and a very attractive large blue-tiled private bathroom with plenty of closet space. All rooms are exterior with double glazed windows

The main entrance in the living room opens onto a wide L-shaped veranda affording fantastic views of the town and surrounding countryside, stretching all the way down to the Gulf of Roses on the coast. A sitting area of white painted metal chairs under parasols overlooks the old stone well, still functional, as there is a natural spring on the property used for irrigation. In the summer months the owners set up one of those round inflatable kiddy pools on the terrace for the tots.

I hope the above description goes some way to describing the very real attractiveness of this house. The large municipal pool, situated about 400 meters from the house, is free of charge for guests of the house. The hills around Agullana, where the mighty Pyrenees begin to soften contours before tumbling into the sea at the spectacular nearby Cap de Creus, are full of monuments, from megalithic dolmen, Romanesque churches, and a nearby damed reservoir affords fresh-water swimming and water sports at the yacht club. The hills are criss-crossed with well-marked trails for hikers and mountain bikers. There are plenty of restaurants and the tourist infrastructure is excellent, as you would expect from an area that is popular with well-to-do Barcelonan holiday makers. The owner's of this masia are biologists who recently restored Casa Palau after many years of malarial research in West Africa. They speak French, Catalan, Spanish, and some English.

The municipal pool has adult and kiddy pool, two tennis courts, a football field, and a bar that serves food and drink.  According to feedback from past rentors, kids easily make friends here. It is very well kept with lawn space and shady areas under the trees.

There is a horse club 6 kms away in Cantallops.
The wooded hillsides separating the towns in this area are criss-crossed with well-marked trails, many passing Romanesque churches, and there is even a company dedicated to organizing walks throughout the region.
Try to book during the Fiesta Mayor, the annual town fiesta on August 15.

• public transport: buses to Agullana, trains in La Jonquera at 4 km
• free firewood
• horseback riding club at 6km
• golf at Torremirona, 17 kms
• fresh water club-nautic at 7 kms
• Festa major: 15 August

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This sign indicates that the Catalan Tourism Authorities regularly inspect and license the property. We have also visited and recommend all the properties we have selected for our listings.

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Contact: Email: Charlie Williams
Call our Barcelona office: (+34) 93 268 2300 or cell (+34) 656 364 960

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