La Casa de la Parra

This charming cottage in Montefrio's most historic quarter, El Arrabal, has an unusual double roof, because over the years, as it evolved from a tiny thatch hut into a rather extensive house, it grew both upwards and outwards, mushroom-style! Only the top floor, with the twisted chimney stack, is visible from the street, and when guests first penetrate the labyrinth of staircases and subterranean corridors they all exclaim how much bigger it is than one would have imagined. In its spectacular position at the foot of the ruins of the Moorish castle - which, themselves, provide the massive foundations for the Gothic church known as La Villa - the Casa de la Parra stands half-perched over the village and half-encrusted in the rocky mountainside.

    To begin at the beginning, you cross the small veranda in the shade of the overhanging grapevine which gives the house its name, enter the tiny parlour with its chimney and seats carved in the stone walls; next is a spacious kitchen with dining table and glass door overlooking the town, with large fridge, washing machine, steam iron, blender, toaster, gas oven, micro-wave, electric water heater.

    The Casa de la Parra is an upside-down house: instead of going up to the bedrooms and the bathroom, you go down, by a staircase carved in the rock. There are two bedrooms with 1 double bed each, a den with sculpted "curved" divan which can also be used as a bed, and, at the end of the labyrinth, a sort of monk's cell with a double bed carved in the rock - very secluded and romantic, and also very, very cool for those summertime siestas!

    But perhaps the most charming detail of all is the bathroom, where you can wash your hair in the sit-up bathtub as you gaze out on the bell-tower of the church, which you can almost reach out and touch from the tiny window. You can usually park your car in the plazuela in front of the house, but if not there is always lots of space 100 yards down the hill, at our Old Cemetery, with its ancient crypts carved into the cliff.

 

The parra in summer...

... and in winter

...

See the postion of Casa de la Parra in this sketch.

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