This must be the place

«There is always a book open to all eyes: nature» - wrote Jean-Jacques Rousseau – but not everyone can fully comprehend it. One must read beyond the horizon, grasp the message of the Mediterranean scrub, follow the slow rhythm of the sun, only then can they build a home that has everything it takes to become “second nature”. A little slice of paradise, where it’s easy to get lost in the azure sky that seems to trace timeless trajectories aimed at the soul. It was precisely this perspective, with so many vanishing points, that enchanted a Barcelona lawyer who decided to create his private retreat here, in the Costa Brava hills, a stone’s throw from Girona. Fate, however, reshuffled the cards, and to his advantage. After the pandemic, the owner found that his business office, in the heart of the city, could be located anywhere, even here, where the climate is always mild and the landscape never rests. The home, reached by a private road and surrounded by a garden – that is not a real garden because it is made of the same Mediterranean vegetation – seems to rise right out of the earth. So grandiose and majestic, it merits a closer look – it has seven bedrooms, separate from various private and shared living spaces – to understand that it is so lyrically silent, it expresses a luxury that exists but is never openly stated.

The most priceless aspect of this place lies at its heart: a scenario of true well-being, an awe-inspiring fusion of the majesty of nature and human ingenuity. A dream villa that, despite extensive use of traditional materials, gracefully avoids the risk of appearing rustic.

Here, the mansion and the garden are one; one cannot exist without the other, and they communicate through openings in the walls that “create silence” (in the words of renowned Mexican architect Luis Barragán, whose work inspired the home’s design), to open one up to new experiences of interaction and meditation. Everywhere, the Mediterranean scrub finds its way inside, peering in through the generous windows and infiltrating small private gardens – charming, shaded spots designed for guests – even to the pool nestled amid the foliage. A languid slowness runs through the terraced land and ends its journey in the dappled shade of the patios that generate interconnected spaces between one outdoor lounge and another. Then there are the stone portals, natural plaster finishes on the walls painted in earth tones, in tribute to the Mexican maestro. Inside and out, the melody of the place is so strong that, as happens with flamenco, it must be played softly and, the softer you play, the more powerful it is. Light floods the rooms with the same melody, overcoming the few barriers that act as filters between interior and exterior spaces. The rhythm of the rooms follows a similar pattern, one after another, split over two floors, to follow the lay of the land. Guests are ensured absolute privacy, with individual bedroom, bath and sitting room that look onto an inner plant-filled courtyard. In this most generous home, the concept of “being together” takes on a very deep meaning because it also offers areas for reflection and introspection, in a harmonious symmetry between human interaction and one’s inner landscape. A way to discover that true luxury is nothing more than slowing down time, between moments stolen from the sun and weightless silence.