The house was built in 1920 in the Art Deco period, and was originally much larger. Inheritance meant the large house was split into 3, with our house being one of those parts. We fell in love with the many original features and decided to renovate it in the rural style, retaining as many of the original features as we could, using local craftsman and knowledge. We divided the house into the 3 apartments. Two are available for holiday rent and certified as Casas Rurales and the upstairs one is where we live. We used the names of local Aragonese artists and a sculptor for the names, and each apartment is in a different style. The first apartment is called “Picasso”. It is decorated in an Art Deco style, in keeping with Picasso´s work. The second apartment is called “Goya” and is decorated in a more rustic country style. Both holiday apartments have central heating( for the winter months) and air-conditioning (for the summer months), as well as a kitchen with coffee maker microwave, oven, fridge freezer, sink, washing machine and table and chairs. There is plenty of cupboard space so you can either enjoy meals bought locally or prepare food for yourselves. Breakfast can be provided with 48 hours notice. It will be brought to your apartment ready for the morning, including coffee pods for your coffee machine, fresh bread, olive oil, jam and cold meats for you to enjoy in your accommodation. This is especially useful if you have to leave early in the morning, or if you just fancy having a fresh breakfast in your accommodation. In equipping the apartments, we have used hotel grade linen for all the beds, with duvets and blankets/covers available in the colder months. The apartments benefit from triple glazing throughout, which ensures your comfort and provides a quiet stay. Guests will be provided on check in with a key to their apartment and the main front door so they can come and go as they wish.

We are originally from Birmingham, England and moved to this area in 2013, with our 2 younger children, looking for a new life away from the city. Now, life has moved on, as have our children so we are now trying to spread our love of this area to new people. In renovating the house, we sought to make our carbon footprint as small as posible, yet including all the modern conveniences . To this end, we used local materials and workmen as much as we could, and preferred to renovate rather than replace. So, the entrance to our building reflects this, with pictures taken in the local area showing farming and people enjoying themselves. We also found many items that had been used to farm the land, such as a plough and baskets to put the olives in before the donkey carried them back to the village to be processed at the local Cooperativa, as had been done for generations. We have provided some tourist information in the entrance hall, though our website has more tourist information, and we are always happy to suggest places for you to visit. We are collaborators with Matarraña Aventura in Calaceite, so our guests can enjoy a discount on any of their Via Verde activities. We live on the top floor with our dog, so this is a family home as well as a holiday retreat. We hope you will enjoy your stay this tranquil area. We recently reviewed the beds in Goya apartment, and have replaced the double bed shown with a new 140cm double bed with an orthopaedic mattress, which we hope will give guests an even more comfortable nights sleep. We very much value feedback from guests.

The Matarraña área is known as the Spanish Tuscany for the olives which are grown here and harvested in the cold winter months from December until February. Even at this time though the sun is plentiful and so exploring this area is a year-round activity. The peaches, which come in 2 types are famous as well. Mazaleón is a small village, but it has enough shops and 2 bars to supply your immediate needs. Once you have parked your car, close to the house, you will only need it to venture further into the area as you explore the charming villages and their customs and history. In Mazaleon there are historical sites to be explored, such as the cells, where prisoners were housed before being taken for trial in Teruel, the “hospital” where the taxes of olive oil or other produce and money was stored, as well as the hermita ( which you can see from the salon of each apartment) and the main Church. From Easter until November the local tourist authority run tours of the village historical sights from the main Plaza de España for a small charge. Ask for details. Around the village, there are plenty of walks to be taken. Nearby you can find the prehistoric remains of the Iberos villages, as well as the “farmacia de los moros”. Mazaleón is on the edge of the Matarraña area, so is well positioned to easily get to Barcelona or the more mountainous areas of Cataluña and Teruel which are nearby. Life is lived at a slower pace in these small villages, and it is easy to get around the entire village on foot. So, once you have parked your car, or arrived nearby by public transport, you can enjoy the new sights and sounds.