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Casa Alferera, a barn for 2-4 people, in 3 hectares of olive grove under the peaks of the beautiful Sierra de Montanchez. Superb bird watching and walking, 3 towns of great historical interest within 30 minutes drive, the nature reserve at Monfrague an hour away. Solar electricity, spring water, a natural swimming pond....Jane Wheeler who owns the lovely converted barn in Extremadura explains a little about her project to create a peaceful and natural place for relaxing and enjoying the natural world. You can find out more about renting the property by contacting Pippa Sharman at Finca Al-Manzil
"I fell in love with this part of Extremadura five years ago, while staying at Finca Al-Manzil. The steep boulder-strewn slopes and peaks, the trees growing out of the rocks everywhere - mainly cork and holme oak, the horses and cattle, the vultures and eagles, all the wild-life – the peace and quiet, the old-fashioned courtesy of the locals, the last vestiges of an old order – all called out to my sensibilities.
 I found this olive grove nearby, which then was delightfully wild and neglected, its dry stone walls tumbledown, brambles everywhere and the olive trees cheerfully abandoned with extravagantly shaggy branches. I have tried not to change it too much, but we had to keep the local cows out, so the walls were all mended, and the olive trees pruned back harshly to make them fertile again. Now sheep graze it periodically to prevent the dry grass becoming a fire hazard in the summer, the new roof and the solar panels of the barn seem quite overbearing, but a few years of wear and tear and climbing plants will soften it down again. I am aiming at producing organic olive oil eventually, with a few other like-minded owners – we intend to buy a mobile olive press between us. It is a great shame that most of the olives here are grown using herbicides and insecticides on a regular basis, the ground is bare around the trees and the olives are raked off it and sent to the local cooperativa.
 I managed to find the time to spend a month in December and again in April, living in the barn, getting it shipshape, and organising construction of the natural pool. It is a magical place and one day I hope to spend more time there. In December there was plenty of sunshine, and longer days than in the UK, I became extremely fit with all the walking, and evenings in front of the cosy wood stove were spent reading by candlelight. Early days with the solar electricity and I was being very careful – but using candles made me feel closer to the rusticity of the environment. It is not so long since families were brought up in small stone huts in these hills.
In April I spent much more time outdoors. The nightingales sing day and night, echoing from the steep slope of the Sierra Montanchez. Sitting in the sun outside the kitchen door for a late breakfast one is immersed in bird song; nightingales along with the hoopoes’ low hoop-oop-oop-oop, cuckoos, blackbirds, black caps and nuthatches, (I am not an expert, I am sure there were lots of other birds I couldn’t identify) and some very loud sparrow cheeping; it is quite wonderful. The finca starts to be sprinkled with wild flowers at that time of year, a couple of good rains and they all come out. The camino is bedecked with bright yellows and purples – the broom, the lavender, and later the purple viper’s bugloss.
The pool is a slow burn, we have had to wait for all the plants to grow and the system to find its balance. It is working pretty well now, and doesn’t use so much power to keep the water circulating and aerated. Next year it will be very beautiful as the plants around the edges –Irises, bulrushes and papyrus -will have matured and filled in the spaces. A very special swimming experience. I keep a blog, where you can read in more detail about my time at the finca."
More photos of the barn can be seen by clicking here |
