NEW: Villa Nido de Golondrina is a characterful country house with 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a wooden casita, large swimming pool, garage and various storage spaces. The house is surrounded by lush gardens with fruit trees, a vegetable garden and walking paths that descend to the barranco in the valley.

The villa sits in the heart of nature — a herd of around 150 bleating goats with bells regularly passes by. From the house you look out over the green valley towards Comares, the well-filled Lake Viñuela, Periana and Río Bermúza. The house radiates peace and spaciousness, yet is only 600 metres from the main road to Canillas de Aceituno.

The villa is in perfect condition. In recent years many improvements have been made: a new kitchen and floor, renovated bathrooms, an outdoor kitchen with lounge area at the front, and a wooden pergola with sunshade on the kitchen terrace. The house also has solar panels, a water softener, a solar boiler for hot water and — in addition to a mains water connection — its own water source for garden irrigation.

The surroundings

A 5-minute drive away is Canillas de Aceituno, a picturesque white mountain village in the Axarquía at 645 metres altitude, at the foot of the Sierra de Tejeda and crowned by the peak of La Maroma — at 2,068 metres the highest summit in the province of Málaga. The village has all everyday amenities: a bank, pharmacy, doctor's surgery, small supermarkets, bakers and butchers — and of course a number of lively bars and good restaurants. Try the local chivo al horno (oven-roasted goat) or the celebrated morcilla canillera, or set off from the village on the El Saltillo walking route with the third-longest suspension bridge in Spain.

Nido de Golondrina is 50 minutes from Málaga and 25 minutes from the coast at Torre del Mar. Granada is an hour and a half away, Ronda and Córdoba 2 hours, and Seville 2.5 hours.

DESCRIPTION INSIDE

The front door is at the rear of the house, accessible via a flower-lined passageway. From the entrance hall (1.80 x 1.35m) the villa opens into the dining room (3.90 x 4.20m) with large sliding doors to the covered veranda. From here you have a beautiful view over the garden towards Lake Viñuela. Adjacent is the living room with an elegant fireplace, three large windows and the same sweeping view (4.75 x 4.60m). Both rooms have air conditioning and central heating.

Between the kitchen and the living room a door leads to the kitchen terrace.

The large, luxury kitchen features a coffee bar, tall storage cupboards, a generous breakfast bar and a wide gas range with large oven (SMEG), complemented by an L-shaped workspace with all integrated appliances — also SMEG (19m²). The kitchen has underfloor heating and French doors to the kitchen terrace.

On the ground floor there are three bedrooms, accessible via a central hallway:
·  Bedroom 1 (8.80m²) — double room with built-in wardrobe, air conditioning and central heating
·  Bedroom 2 (9.60m²) — double room with built-in wardrobes, air conditioning and central heating
·  Bedroom 3 (16.85m²) — very spacious double room with large built-in wardrobe, air conditioning and central heating, and an en-suite bathroom (5.80m²) with bath, shower, toilet, double washbasin, underfloor heating and radiator
·  Spacious bathroom for bedrooms 1 and 2 (5.35m²) with shower, washbasin, toilet, underfloor heating and radiator
·  There is also a good sized pantry at the end of the corridor.

Via the wide staircase beside the entrance, you reach the upper floor via a landing:
·  A large bathroom with shower, double washbasin, toilet, underfloor heating and radiator (6.25m²)
·  A dressing room (12.75m²) with French doors to a roof terrace with a large sunshade (10 x 3m) — the view from here is even more impressive: alongside the green valley and the lake you can also see the mountains of the Sierra Tejeda
·  The master bedroom in the tower (21m²): a large, light-filled room with windows all around, air conditioning and heating

All windows and doors have double safety glass, UPVC tilt-and-turn fittings (Kömmerling), fly screens and shutters.

DESCRIPTION OUTSIDE

Nido de Golondrina is reached via a short drive along a mountain track, almost entirely concreted. There are two entrances: the upper driveway leads to the main house, the lower one to the garage and carport. In total there is parking for 6 cars.

From the upper driveway, slate and terracotta-tiled terraces and pathways lead around the entire house. As the villa was built over 25 years ago and the current owners have a great love of plants and flowers, the garden is lushly planted with roses, bougainvilleas, oleanders, hibiscus, citrus plants, olive and almond trees and other Mediterranean species. There are countless shaded and sunny spots, making it comfortable to sit outside in every season.

At the front you'll find an outdoor kitchen with gas BBQ and hob under wooden pergolas, a lounge area (approx. 8,5 x 3m) and the spacious covered veranda (approx. 10 x 3m) adjoining the dining room, used as an extra outdoor room for much of the year.

Adjacent is a large terrace with a lockable gate leading to a wide staircase down to the pool terrace. The view from here is panoramic across the valley, the distant hills, the lake and — to the left — a glimpse of the Mediterranean Sea.

On the terrace beside the kitchen stand two wooden tables under a pergola (5.20 x 3.40m). A little further on, an old olive tree and a cosy round terrace under a steel pergola (3.60 x 3.60m) invite you to relax and unwind, with views over the garden and the valley. Behind this lies a further 'hidden' garden.
Around the house are various outbuildings: the boiler room, a wood store for the fireplace, the water softener and an extra 2,000-litre water reservoir.

The upper part of the garden is fully fenced and has several passages to the lower garden areas. Here you'll find the wooden casita (3 x 3m + veranda 3.25 x 2.55m), currently set up as a gym but also suitable as a guest accommodation or storage space, and the fruit orchard with grapevines (Muscatel and Romé), orange, lime and mandarin trees, avocado and mango trees, three jacarandas and several fig and pomegranate trees.

Via the second lower entrance you park under or beside the carport. Here is the garage (30m²) and to the left a staircase leads up to the pool terrace (72.5m²) and swimming pool (11 x 4.15m). In the centre of this terrace a wide staircase leads back up to the terrace in front of the main house.

At the far end of the pool terrace a staircase leads to the lower level, where there is a small terrace (4.20 x 4.20m), a utility room (washing machine, dryer and extra fridge-freezer) and additional storage space (total 18m²), alongside the pump room for the pool and irrigation system (10m²). From this terrace a flower-lined path leads into the garden towards the wooden chalet and the fruit trees.

At the rear of the pool there is a further garden area with walking paths along benches, fruit trees, roses, almond trees, vines and Mediterranean planting. From here you can walk all the way down to the barranco below, where in spring and autumn you can see and hear the stream flowing.

At the bottom is the property's own water source and two water tanks of 3,000 litres each for garden irrigation. This path runs alongside the vegetable garden to the rear terrace of the casita.

In total there is parking for at least 6 cars across the two entrances.

IN SHORT

Nido de Golondrina is a characterful country villa in a privileged location, with breathtaking views over the green valley towards Comares and Lake Viñuela. The villa has 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a lush garden with fruit orchard, a large swimming pool, outdoor kitchen and a wooden casita. Inside, everything is beautifully finished: a luxury SMEG kitchen, elegant living spaces with fireplace and modern features including underfloor heating, solar panels and a private water source. Outside, various terraces and the shady garden offer peace and nature — including the herd of goats that regularly passes by. The white mountain village of Canillas de Aceituno with its restaurants, walking routes and amenities is just 5 minutes away. Málaga and the coast are 50 and 25 minutes away respectively.

ASKING PRICE € 695,000

Council tax/IBI:  aprox. € 650,- annually

THE AREA

With around 320 days of sunshine per year Andalusia, and especially the Axarquía region, is one of the best areas to live in Europe. Read here more about the great way of living in Southern Spain.