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A SPANISH CAPRICCIO

A Spanish Capriccio

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Property on sale in Zufre

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Page 1: A Spanish Capriccio

A SPAN ISH CAPRICC IO

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The environmentZufre, an Andalousian balconyZufre is located at the northeast end of the Natural Park of Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche. A protected enclave very valued for its quality as one of the most treasured sce-nic environments in Andalusia. Pastures, vegetable gardens, streams and forests of holm oaks and cork cover the hillside that the historic town of Zufre tops. His elevated status pro-vides a esplendid panoramic reaching the reservoir of the nearby Ribera de Huelva. However, the topography does not preclude excellent accessibility, given its boundary condi-tion between the provinces of Seville and Huelva and the proximity of the highway Ruta de La Plata.

The medieval layout of its streets, together with the beauty of the village and its monuments make of Zufre one of the best preserved historic towns of the Sierra de Aracena. This earned the town an early cataloging as a Site of Cultutal In-terest. Among its most interesting assets we find the shrine of San Sebastian, the chapels of Santa Zita and Nuestra Se-ñora del Puerto, the Church of the Inmaculada Concepcion or the singular City Hall of Zufre, these last two are attribu-ted to the Renaissance master Hernan Ruiz.

In Zufre tranquility of the place and the joy of its people meet annually in its festivals. Its pilgrimages and traditional cele-brations cherish good cuisine and are a great attraction in the county. Zufre’s cuisine is characterized by diversity and flavor, like the Iberian pork, or migas accompanied by grilled sardi-nes and, especially, the mushrooms of fall and spring. Nearby gardens supply as well fresh vegetables to local dishes.

Arguments like these justify best the growing interest on Zufre in recent years, pointing at the town as a place that combines the charm of a small village and the freshness of a vital people.

Essentials:

Province: Huelva

Distance from Huelva (km): 131

Distance from Seville (km): 86

Altitude above sea level (m): 450

Area (km2): 341

Inhabitants: 973

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The PropertyNuestra Señora del Puerto, 8The property is located in the historic heart of Zufre, on Nuestra Señora del Puerto, the main street of the town, named after the patron Virgin of the village. As a distinctive sign of its location, the house incorporates in its main facade a reproduction of the image made on ceramic tile crafts-manship.

As for the typology of the house its an infill building with double street access. The architectural composition of the facade has the distinctive traits of a wealthy Andalusian rural bourgeoisie residence in the late XIXth and early XXth cen-tury. The most defining features are its classic rhythmic axial composition, with large windows on the ground floor and balconies on the upper floor, a pronounced base that serves as a podium for the main body, or the traditional whitewas-hed Andalusian walls. The front is crowned by a long ledge and a parapet that conceals the tiled roof.

The secondary entrance is at Nogales’ Street, through a wide gate that allows the entry of vehicles thanks to the widening of the street. This front, given its nature of service, responds to a rather popular or vernacular architecture. However its sym-metrical composition denotes certain attention to the design of the facade elements.

Overall distribution also responds to this scheme. Therefo-re, the noble rooms of the house occupy the first and main access while serviceareas are aligned with Nogales Street, like the two attached homes, and around the courtyard of the building. This segmentation is evident as well in in the separa-te circulations of the functional diagram.

Nuestra Señora del Puerto St.

Nogal

es S

t.

GROUND FLOOR BASEMENT

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Noble rooms

Main service rooms

Attached houses

Private courtyard

ESSENTIALS

Main access: Nuestra Señora del Puerto St.., N 8

Rear access: Nogales St.

Plot surface: 563m2

Built surface: 902m2

Type: Infill building

Construction dates: 1890-1930

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The most elaborate rooms are concentrated on the ground floor of the main house. This is reflected in the quality of the construction and the materials there used. Best examples are the solid brick vaults that make the ceilings, the labo-rious woodworks, the colorful floor tiles, the traditional tile baseboards, the marble main staircase or the locksmith work in railings and the gateway and, above all, the impressive paintings that adorn the vaults of the three adjoining rooms of the entrance.

These three rooms have direct communication under an axial composition plan, in a way that is reminiscent of the sequential spaces in palaces. The largest and most ornate of them is the Hall of the Four Seasons. In the middle bay, we find the staircase centerpiece that allows direct access to the

most private rooms in the house, such as bedrooms. In the third bay we find the Fireplace Room, another unique piece of the building, name after a fireplace built in brick and decora-ted with tile in a fashion faithful to the regionalist style of the time in which it was built.

The top of the housing is less profuse in ornament, white walls and clay tile floors are dominant here. Significantly, the roof was recently rebuilt as a mean to safeguard the integrity of the house.

Noble Rooms

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The frescoes that adorn ceilings and walls are worthy of spe-cial attention. First, they are an unusual solution for a rural region, even among affluent families. This fact, together with its subject and composition, give the paintings this unique capriccio allure. As for stylistic influences, it is clear that the two smaller ceilings adhere to a taste proper of the Second Empire, which is consistent with the date of completion; while the variety of colors in the main room, known as the Four Seasons Hall rather suggest Italianate airs. Despite ac-cusing some deterioration, the paintings are in good shape for their conservation.

The theme of the frescoes is equally remarkable. The smaller room depicts four distinguished Arts. Thus employing symbo-lism associated with painting, literature, music and architec-ture. In the vault of the entrance, we find profuse floral motifs, two busts, one male and one female, with clothing and facial features reminiscent of the Spanish Creole culture. The fres-coes on the walls are of great interest as well, for they contain cityscapes from Zufre. The Four Seasons Hall was named by the representation of farming scenes related to every season: depicting characters deforesting, collecting fruit, harvesting wheat and burning firewood.

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The central part of the plot is set in a private courtyard which is divided into two by a fence fixed to a group of pilasters. This serves as a division between an area with a secluded Andalusian garden, with a fountain, flower beds, ornamental flowerpots and terracing, and another service area, in which a well, the old stables and warehouses are located.

As a sign of wealth, service areas occupy a large proportion of the property. These spaces are characteristically more

austere, here we find most common and rustic materials, such as clay tile for the floors or wooden logs for the ceilings. This pattern is also evident in the main body of the building, wich counts with two kitchens, one on each floor, a bathroom in the basement and spacious pantries and storage areas. The two attached houses, which served as residence for the ser-vice, are located towards the rear side of the plot, both have their own independent access to Nogales St.

Courtyard and service areas

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OportunityDespite the passage of time, it is important to note that this property is not in a state of neglect. Over the years efforts have been made to preserve its structural integrity. As a result, the house in its current state is at a point where a recovery is feasible within acceptable margins for an inves-tment of this size.

The property has exceptional qualities for a restoration be it for a a sole unit, bringing distinction to its owner, or multiple units, whith possible private areas and others for a shared use. The dimensions of the property comfortably admit four semi-independent apartments and two detached houses.

Equally interesting it’s the possibility of giving the property a productive use. It presents spatial characteristics that allow it’s conversion into a prestigious rural hotel, with the pos-

sibility for suites, standard rooms, lobby, spacious kitchens, stables for horseback riding, spacious dining rooms, summer terraces, detached villas, and so on. In recent years, quality rural tourism has become a surging value, and this real estate is eligible to attract this segment of public.

In order to show its capabilities several recreations are shown here with proving the potential of the unique spaces of this building.

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This intervention in the Four Seasons Hall wishes to value its most characteristic aspect, this is, the vivid colors of the vaults, by opposing to a design in neutral colors, predomi-nantly white, in the ground plane. So we opt for a composition in stripes, with a lower concept-clean base, an intermediate, with dominance of the original sky blue, and the top one for the vault. Furniture seek to emphasize the spatiality of the living room, with elements of great simplicity and neatness. This proposal has tested and confirmed that the irreverent classicism of the frescoes, is perfectly compatible with rather contempo-rary concepts, on a fusion that takes the best of both ends of the stylistic spectrum. We have chosen to fix the damaged parts of the paintings, but it could remain unchanged, in line with the increasing contemporary taste for decay.

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The Fireplace Room gathers optimal attributes for a rather everyday use. Its lumino-sity, thanks to two wide windows overlooking the courtyard, and its proximity to the kitchen so indicate. Here we propose a revision of rusticity from the perspective of comfort, adding into the equation some distinctive ethnic touches. The unique colorful floor tiles, highly valued by current interior design trends, can be recovered with little investment and the fallen fragments of ceramic tile can also be restored. For ceilings we opted to remove the plates of plaster and rebuild the wooden structure, finished with a Provencal touch. The furniture layout emphasizes unequivocally the centrality of the regionalist style fireplace.

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The upper floor, the most affected by the replacement of the roof, offers more mallea-ble conditions, allowing partitioning of the great room which occupies much of the front facade. Here we propose a large bedroom with high ceilings, very bright, which, if necessary, could become a distinguished room hotel. Again the focus is on the quality of materials, always considered the basic element of the palette, with great prominence of wood in ceilings, walls and furniture. The light tones dress the entire room in light. Spaces upstairs are no differetn to a blank canvas, offering the possibility of experimen-tation, thus opening the door to more avant-garde solutions, if preferred.

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The courtyard has traditionally been the place for recreation in the house. This is recog-nized in elements such as the fountain or the gardening. This proposal seeks to increase the permeability between areas by removing part of the boundary fence, with an inten-sive use of vegetation as a unifying element. This releases a large area which could be used as a summer terrace for guests, both during day and night, if an adequate lighting project is put in place. Vines, flowering bushes or a pavement with grass joints, would bring the freshness and environmental quality that enhance a pleasant stay. The front facade recreates recovered first floor to be used as room for the guests.

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