House in Los Barrios

Finca La Rana is in the lovely town of Los Barrios, just 15 minutes from Gibraltar, as well as ten minutes to the nearby beaches, under half an hour to the world-class golden sand beaches of Tarifa for kitesurf / windsurf and not much more in the other direction to Estepona and Marbella, or a simply stunning train-ride inland to Ronda. And we are surrounded by beautiful countryside and mountains, with ample opportunities for hiking, climbing, cycling (road or mountain bike), freshwater swimming, wildlife and bird watching or just tranquil picnicking.

Los Barrios is a living Spanish town with a heart. It's a small town of just over twenty thousand people, but it has all the facilities you might want, including schools, health centres, sports facilities and supermarkets, as well as a big shopping and cinema complex near enough to be convenient but far enough away not to be seen or heard. And as well as proximity to trains and airports (Gibraltar round the corner, Jerez an hour away, Seville and Malaga an hour and a half), there is also nearby Algeciras with its ferries taking you across the Straits to Africa in about an hour!

Our house is perfectly situated at the top of a hill on the edge of town. On one side you are in the town with immediate access to all its facilities, yet on the other side you look out over the mountains and forests of the 'Alcornocales Natural Park', so feel yourself in the countryside.

Finca La Rana, or the Frog Farm, was originally the house of Betty Molesworth, a botanist of some fame originally from New Zealand and who became something of a celebrity locally, even having a park named after her (Betty Molesworth Allen – Wikipedia). And it's not only the plants that would have attracted her here, with our main balcony being the perfect spot for watching one of the primary bird migration routes from Europe to Africa and back, or for delighting in a beautiful sun-set and then perhaps enjoying some star-gazing.

The property includes a land area of over 2,700 M2 (with 200m of that zoned to build another house of 2 stories if you wanted). The house itself has a built area of some 500 M2 over two levels, which can be treated as a single house or two self-contained units.

Upstairs there are 3 spacious bedrooms (or 4 if you count the study as a bedroom), 2 bathrooms, a very spacious living room with open fireplace, segregated tv and dining areas as well as panoramic windows and south-facing big balcony to enjoy those stunning views across the Alcornocales National Park forests and mountains, bird watching and star gazing. The beautifully tiled kitchen leads through to a separate laundry room which opens to an outside covered dining/living area. The large upper garden includes plenty of lawn, an outdoor kitchen with bbq, as well as the garage and enclosed large parking area (although the kids preferred to call it the football and basketball ground!).

Downstairs there are two large living areas, as well as an open-plan kitchen, together with two double bedrooms, both en-suite. There's also a big storeroom on that level. Outside in the lower gardens there is a separate terrace area with another bbq and a garden with a good-sized swimming pool and plenty of room for sun-bathing, trampolines, volleyball or whatever you like.