Conversion of a Stone Farm in Cantabria, Spain

Our client is a Dutch man who purchased the ruin of a dairy farm in the county of Valdaliga, in the North of Spain. The property is at the bottom of a secluded valley, at the edge of a hunting reserve covered by rain forest.  A few meters from the house runs a mountain stream. The original construction is a stone farmstead, built over three stages starting in the late nineteenth century. Given the needs of the owner and the available budget, a decision was made to open up one third of the construction to create a protected porch oriented towards the mountain views in the West. In the remaining two thirds of the original footprint, the massive stone walls are restored and the rotting timber structure removed, revealing generous double height spaces. New services like the kitchen or bathrooms are inserted as light boxes in the masonry construction. The design is simple but rugged, honoring the immediacy of the original building. It provides refuge and comfort in the harsh winter, but also opens up to the site encouraging the dwellers to enjoy life outdoors.

Project authors: Jesús Vassallo and Gabriel Fernández Abascal (GFA2)