The Houses were in a very poor condition, they resembled those little villages after the Luftwaffe bombing during Second World War that appear on TV documentaries. However, the challenge was worth taking as the group of houses as well as its location, the area architecture and the model of housing we were bearing in mind would pay us with illusion and the titanic effort that would be to transform those remains into a trendy rural accomodation.

  So, let´s get down to work!!. The first acid test was one of the most important elements: Water. It was not needed anywhere. It was needed right on top of the only hill which can be seen behind the group of houses and that guaranteed a natural water fall, enough to give water supply and pressure to get to the houses.
It was a real show to see how Jose Manuel, a young though expert ´Zahorí` (waterfinder) from the area, showing great concentration, was searching the area until he found with his umbrella wires what he said to be two strong and deep undergroud water streams beneath his feet. That was the perfect location for our convenience.
To get there was like hell!. There was a more than 11km long path that at that time was impossible to be driven. The only water source was a traditional old well below the houses` level and besides there was an area of more than 2,500 m2 of streets and buildings to have restored.
It was about 3:00 a.m. at that umpleasant winter night, when sitting around that bonfire we were observing how the drill was digging, puffing and throwing dust clouds arround. No track of humidity at 20 metres beneath our feet…and suddenly, that lazy drill sank in a more than a metre stroke and a telluric whistling sound was heard from the depths of the earth letting free a powerful water stream. How delightful!!, 50 metres ahead there was the other one.
  The steel wire forced into an arch was turning violently between his fingers as if it was moved by a powerful magnet whenever it went across the place in which both streams were supposed to meet. He did so many times until he found the concrete place in which both streams met.
 
    Having overcome those ´impossible` barriers the creative stage began. A hundred sketches were recreating and solving problems from the smallest to the more complex ones. Thus in a slow process of radicalization and purity we came to the conclusion that every element involved into the project should be original in its concept as well as in its materials and should be far from the usual standards. Were we by any chance to build match boxes covered with ´Porcelanosa` tyles closed by ´Sapelli`doors??. As the works were progressing and everything was fitting in its place: Not only it was cheaper to use traditional tools methods and materials but it was the most suitable way of doing it… and imagination is free!!.
 
   

No joke , we had to build six bathrooms, five kitchens and living-rooms, ten bedrooms , a restaurand with its dining-room and its kitchen and all of them with their fire-places and salamander stoves and all the complements to give them style and comfort. On the other hand, talking in bigger numbers, it was necessary to build from the emptyness, five complete houses, with an endless number of windows and doors. It was also necessary to pave the village spaces and to give them fountains, benches and lanes.

It was also interesting to take a big number of photographs of the whole process as those pictures were very valuable during the building as well as nowadays as they are very useful and can be an example of that work.


We cannot forget either the economical help from the E.E.C. through the ´Leader Programme` . Although this help came a bit late, it made possible de restoration of our ´Caserío` (= farmhouse). We hope that these pages are useful to promote our rooming house, and also encourage and stimulate some other similar initiatives as the area and the satisfaction of seeing how a buch of stones become something lively harmonious and nice , it is worth doing it.




 
 
  Worth little money, a bright fawcett with uncovered tubes or just to fit a simple saucepan to get an original sink…doing the same with all the other items: beds, tables, mirrors, lamps, mechanisms and ´solutions` . Everything was reinvented and revised in order to adapt it to aesthetics and price.
 
  As a good friend of us usually says, ´La Ramallosa` is an Anthem to Ad Hoc as everything that could be preserved has been respected always using Ad Hoc solutions. After this and other works that we made later on, we have almost systematized what we believe to be a personal style on pure rustic decoration: cheap in materials and solutions, rich and overelaborate in details and ideas . It is the so called ´Barrústico`( Baroque plus Rustic) or ´Barrustic Adhocquism` as a tribute to our friend.


When you come here sure you will know how to appreciate and enjoy it!