€ 200,000
Alajar Country house for sale
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Ref : 17168
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10 Beds
4 Baths
This project is a 5,000 sqm plot of land with planning permission in place from relevant departments all to convert into a 10 bedroom rural tourism project in the national park of the Sierra de Aracena & Picos de Aroche.
It is set in a beautiful location at the foot of the cliffs of the Pena de las Arias Montano overlooking the pueblo of Alajar which is 5 minutes on foot down an old sendero.
The Sierra itself is a landscape of forests of cork oaks and chestnuts covering rolling hills with green meadows and streams. The wildflowers in spring are seriously out of this world!
Alajar is approximately 15 minutes from Aracena (the regional capital), and approx. 1-1 and 1/4 hours from Seville or 1 and 1/2 hours from Huelva.
Alajar is one of the most picturesque and established mountain villages of the Sierra with old cobbled streets, a couple of good restaurants, shops, primary school, and a pretty plaza. It is one of the popular destinations for tourists in the area, but is unspoiled and "spanish".
The Pena de Las Arias Montano itself is very famous in the region. It used to be an old shaman site with many other claims to fame - one of which is that Philip II came there to reflect on state policy before ordering the Armada to set off to England (not sure that is such an auspicious thing for the Spanish!). Anyway, it is a setting of steep cliffs and caves set in forests with waterfalls, springs and streams flowing through the grounds. It is also one of the focal points of the local Romerias that converge across the Sierra from Springtime through to Autumn.
The project itself is to renovate the existing finca into a 10 bedroom rural tourism project. As it stands in the architect plans, and permissions, the project is also to renovate existing buildings into 3 casas rurales (one to be lived in by the future proprietor). These are as follows:
* Casa rural - which can sleep 6 people (with disabled access)
This is set out as:
First floor - 2 double ensuite bedrooms.
Ground floor - a large living room & dining area (either for the whole project or just this house as preferred) with fireplace, a reception area, a double ensuite bedroom which has disabled access; basement - a kitchen area, laundry rooms, storerooms. This house has its own private vine terrace and garden as well as direct views up to the cliffs of the Pena above and down to the church and village of Alajar.
The house is structurally sound, although it does need some renovation to be habitable. However, one could easily do this first and live on-site whilst doing up the rest of the project.
* Casa rural - which can sleep up to 6 people
This is set out as:
First floor - One double bedroom;
Ground floor - one double bedroom, one bathroom, open-plan living & dining area (with potential for sofa bed) with fireplace with open-plan kitchen. This likewise has its own separate outdoor patio area.
* Casa rural (de categoria superior) which could sleep 10 people.
This is set out as:
Upstairs - 3 double bedrooms, one galleried landing looking up to the eaves and down to the open-plan living area below, and one bathroom.
Downstairs - a large open-plan living and dining area downstairs with fireplace, open-plan kitchen, a separate laundry room, shower room/WC. There is a separate annex outside connected to this house which consists of 2 double ensuite bedrooms.
There is an Islamic style courtyard built into the plans with fountains/pools - the above casa rural, the annex and the little casa rural (4 people) all overlook this on one side, as well as each having direct views up to the cliffs of the Pena de las Arias Montano above.
The project has mains electricity & water from the town. The project used to be called los chorrelitos (little streams) which as the name suggests, means there is an abundance of fresh water springs running through the land of the project. There would be no difficulty in establishing a private well if wanted. In all, the amount of living space and potential accommodation of the project comes to 460 m 2. This is the key attraction as it is pretty rare to find anywhere in national park land where there are actual existing structures which can comply with planning regulations and which can be developed at length to start a financially viable rural tourism project.
Additional features include:
* A little two storey bothy which could be a tiny guest annex, workshop, whatever took your imagination! It is tucked away at the top of the land.
* A fresh water plunge pool - this is fed by natural springs.
* There is provision for a car park built into plans
* A plethora of mandarin and orange trees (one of the few areas in the region where sweet oranges are grown), along with pomegranates and other fruit trees.
To conclude:
The project is literally all set and ready for someone to start building... the necessary permissions from the national park, the dept. of tourism in Huelva, and Obras Publicas to start work are already in place. The current vendors have been offered a European tourism grant (through the Junta de Andlucia) for 78,000 euros and were told that another application would be equally successful.
There is nothing more to say, except that if you are not familiar with the area, it really is truly beautiful. Very green and fertile with dense forests carpeting the mountains, interspersed with villages and towns, yet really accessible to Seville and Huelva. It is still unspoiled, although it may be changing fast - there is an international golf course being built in Aracena along with a 5 * hotel and so on which if sensitively done can only help to add value to the area.
It is set in a beautiful location at the foot of the cliffs of the Pena de las Arias Montano overlooking the pueblo of Alajar which is 5 minutes on foot down an old sendero.
The Sierra itself is a landscape of forests of cork oaks and chestnuts covering rolling hills with green meadows and streams. The wildflowers in spring are seriously out of this world!
Alajar is approximately 15 minutes from Aracena (the regional capital), and approx. 1-1 and 1/4 hours from Seville or 1 and 1/2 hours from Huelva.
Alajar is one of the most picturesque and established mountain villages of the Sierra with old cobbled streets, a couple of good restaurants, shops, primary school, and a pretty plaza. It is one of the popular destinations for tourists in the area, but is unspoiled and "spanish".
The Pena de Las Arias Montano itself is very famous in the region. It used to be an old shaman site with many other claims to fame - one of which is that Philip II came there to reflect on state policy before ordering the Armada to set off to England (not sure that is such an auspicious thing for the Spanish!). Anyway, it is a setting of steep cliffs and caves set in forests with waterfalls, springs and streams flowing through the grounds. It is also one of the focal points of the local Romerias that converge across the Sierra from Springtime through to Autumn.
The project itself is to renovate the existing finca into a 10 bedroom rural tourism project. As it stands in the architect plans, and permissions, the project is also to renovate existing buildings into 3 casas rurales (one to be lived in by the future proprietor). These are as follows:
* Casa rural - which can sleep 6 people (with disabled access)
This is set out as:
First floor - 2 double ensuite bedrooms.
Ground floor - a large living room & dining area (either for the whole project or just this house as preferred) with fireplace, a reception area, a double ensuite bedroom which has disabled access; basement - a kitchen area, laundry rooms, storerooms. This house has its own private vine terrace and garden as well as direct views up to the cliffs of the Pena above and down to the church and village of Alajar.
The house is structurally sound, although it does need some renovation to be habitable. However, one could easily do this first and live on-site whilst doing up the rest of the project.
* Casa rural - which can sleep up to 6 people
This is set out as:
First floor - One double bedroom;
Ground floor - one double bedroom, one bathroom, open-plan living & dining area (with potential for sofa bed) with fireplace with open-plan kitchen. This likewise has its own separate outdoor patio area.
* Casa rural (de categoria superior) which could sleep 10 people.
This is set out as:
Upstairs - 3 double bedrooms, one galleried landing looking up to the eaves and down to the open-plan living area below, and one bathroom.
Downstairs - a large open-plan living and dining area downstairs with fireplace, open-plan kitchen, a separate laundry room, shower room/WC. There is a separate annex outside connected to this house which consists of 2 double ensuite bedrooms.
There is an Islamic style courtyard built into the plans with fountains/pools - the above casa rural, the annex and the little casa rural (4 people) all overlook this on one side, as well as each having direct views up to the cliffs of the Pena de las Arias Montano above.
The project has mains electricity & water from the town. The project used to be called los chorrelitos (little streams) which as the name suggests, means there is an abundance of fresh water springs running through the land of the project. There would be no difficulty in establishing a private well if wanted. In all, the amount of living space and potential accommodation of the project comes to 460 m 2. This is the key attraction as it is pretty rare to find anywhere in national park land where there are actual existing structures which can comply with planning regulations and which can be developed at length to start a financially viable rural tourism project.
Additional features include:
* A little two storey bothy which could be a tiny guest annex, workshop, whatever took your imagination! It is tucked away at the top of the land.
* A fresh water plunge pool - this is fed by natural springs.
* There is provision for a car park built into plans
* A plethora of mandarin and orange trees (one of the few areas in the region where sweet oranges are grown), along with pomegranates and other fruit trees.
To conclude:
The project is literally all set and ready for someone to start building... the necessary permissions from the national park, the dept. of tourism in Huelva, and Obras Publicas to start work are already in place. The current vendors have been offered a European tourism grant (through the Junta de Andlucia) for 78,000 euros and were told that another application would be equally successful.
There is nothing more to say, except that if you are not familiar with the area, it really is truly beautiful. Very green and fertile with dense forests carpeting the mountains, interspersed with villages and towns, yet really accessible to Seville and Huelva. It is still unspoiled, although it may be changing fast - there is an international golf course being built in Aracena along with a 5 * hotel and so on which if sensitively done can only help to add value to the area.
