Cal Moro is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and best-kept properties we offer. The house - especially the nice big kitchen - is very comfortable but it is the magnificent garden that really makes this place so special. Situated a couple of kms outside of Sils, the location is excellent as well.

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• independent masia villa (900m2 + 5 hectaires of private well-dept grounds)
• sleeps up to 17 in 7 rooms, 2 with private bath, 5 bathrooms total
• central heating
• altitude: 100mtr, 15 km to sea, 2 km to town, 80 kms to Barcelona

• 3 kms to PGA Golf at Caldes, 4 other courses within 30kms
• 2 kims to tennis club, 35 kms to Formula One Circuit at Montmelo
• weekly house cleaning and linens included, additional cleaning available upon request
• private fenced-in swimming pool (10 x 5 meters)
• Current rental rates:
  4,000 Euros/week in July and August
  2750 Euros/week in June + September + Easter
+ Christmas + Formula One
2000 Euros/week the rest of year

Cal Moro is another gorgeous house on the outskirts of Sils. I say another as we offer about other houses in the area. Cal Moro is the next fanciest after Can Cunill, and some might prefer this house for the enormous lawn, probably a bit bigger than a football field, and also because house is very well situated.

Location: Cal Moro is a short backroads drive throught fields and pine forest to the Province´s two main roads., the N-II and the AP-7 highway to France and Barcelona. There are several unpaved tracks linking Cal Moro to Sils and the restaurant at Les Mallorquines, the shortest of which involves about 1.5 kilometers of off-road driving, but the track is in good shape, and means that you are in a pleasant rural setting, surrounded by fields, maybe only one or two other houses visible in the distance, and there are nice views of several mountian ranges towards the Pyrenees in the distance.

One other thing I might mention about Cal Moro which some people like is the fact that real walkers, people who enjoy longish walks, consider Cal Moro within walking distance to town and even to the train station, so this house offers added advantage of being able to walk to train which goes to places like: Blanes and the nearest beach, 20kms, Girona city center, 17kms, Figueres and Dalí museum, 35kms, and Llança and Portbou and northern Costa Brava beaches, 55kms, and of course Barcelona city center, 85 kms.

The garden:Cal Moro is completely surrounded by a brick and iron perimeter wall and fence (which probably cost about as much as the construction of the main house itself). Althought the interior of the house is well above average for a rental house, I think it is the garden here, or rather the gardens surrounding the house that are the most salient feature. There about four or five different types of gardens, each neatly delineated by a hedgerow. First and foremost, there is the big sloping grassy lawn into which the pool, measuring 10 x 5 meters, has recently been put in.

This lawn is almost the size of a regulation football pitch. Quite an extraordinary feature that I think is unique in our listings. Other garden areas, as you can see from the photos I have, include a children´s playground, an formal sort of garden with flowers and plants directly in front of the house, and round sort-of outdoor sitting area with a number of those thatched parasols you see in photos of beachside cafés in the tropics. There´s also plenty of covered parking space for a number of cars.

The house:
The building originally dates from the 15th century, but has been completely redone in the 1990´s in an faux-rustic style by an undoubtedly well-paid architect and evidentally, an interior designer. The materials used are quite good, plenty of woodwork, terra cotta, brick, hand painted tiles... and the hand of the designer is also much in evidence, especially in the bedrooms, which all have plenty of built in closet space. One such closet has a door which in fact leads into a full bathroom - a typical designer touch, methinks, and quite clever. Room and bed distribution:
Around the corner from the main entrance is the one bedroom apartment where the guardian lived. It is a self-contained separate apartment with a bedroom with two single beds, two single beds in the living room, and a shared full-bath in the hallway. This separate apartment is not as well decorated as the rest of the rooms at Cal Moro (still fine, though) and is often taken over by teens who want to have their own pad away from the groan ups.

The main floor of the house is given over mainly to the huge kitchen and dining room, with one of those long wooden-planked tables seating up to 20 or more guests. On either side of the kitchen and dining area are a couple of smallish living rooms, one with fireplace and large screen TV (with video and DVD) and french doors which open onto the large terrace there, sort of merging the living room and the outdoor seating area, with 3 sets of wicker tables and chairs seating about 15 people. This terrace is nicely lit and is always the most popular place to hang out in the summer months. There is another small sitting room with sofa and game table on the other back entrance to the house. There is also a garage with ping pong and an extra freezer to supplement the large refridgerator in the kitchen.

The kitchen, I should mention, is undoubtedly one of the nicest of any of the houses we offer. It has it all, indoor BBQ, dishwasher, a lot of appliances, and plenty of good crokery and glasses and plates, etc for about 20 guests. The oven and stove are Smeg, that very expensive brand I would love to have in my kitchen. Just beyond the kitchen there is a nook in the downstairs hallway where there is a atmospheric wine celler, and across from that, the large downstairs bathroom.

Up the rather grand staircase and there is a long hallway distributing to the upstairs bedrooms. On one end, there is an upstair living room into which the caretaker has put three single beds. This is a huge room (yes, there is a door closing it off from the hallway) and from this room, now a bedroom for larger groups who need it, you have access to the large terrace overlooking the grounds. Also at the top of the stairway you will find a room with the washer and dryer and a sink for handwashing and some drying racks.

At the other end of the central hallway you will find the other rooms. To your left there are 3 rooms, one is a suite with private full bath (the one you enter through what looks like an ordinary closet door). Beyond that you have a room a bunk bed and an extra bed in an L-shape, so three single beds. The next room has one or two single beds, as need be. On the other side of the hallway are the other two rooms, one with double bed and the other with two single beds, and there are two full baths in the hallway.


I´m going to interrupt here and insert an email about Cal Moro which I received after the first rental of this house back in August 2003. I have since stayed at Cal Moro several times with friends and family but I think Dave´s comments are very detailed and thoughtful, and so I´ll let him do my job for me, and probably better than I would have done!

----- Original Message -----
From: Dave
To: 'Charles Williams'
Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2003 9:47 PM
Subject: RE: how was it?

(1) We enjoyed immensely staying in Cal Moro. Generally the place had character, was well kept and the gardens well tended and had the hand of a professional designer upon them.

(2) This is the first time I’ve booked by e-mail and used a website. I was impressed by the accurate depiction and useful advice on the site and in your guide in the villa. Everything worked out well and e-mails were returned efficiently and with answers.

(3) The house was adequately stocked with electric fans – necessary given the temperature

(4) House had a table tennis table which was good

(5) Also had a number of bikes for small ones and adults - again very good given that Cal Moro lies within a network of farm roads which provided entertaining mini-adventures without a huge effort

(6) We enjoyed the “apparent” isolation although it only took minutes by car to Sils

(7) The train station in Sils was good - we went to Barcelona on the train. Normally fast and efficient (they were working on the track so we were delayed 45mins on the way to Barcelona but not on the way back). Free parking at Sils railway station but ticket office - buy on the train or at the destination

(8) Sils has just about enough for buying food, Supermarket, Butcher, Bakery and a Pharmacy

(9) Neus and helpers were very nice, discreet and efficient and it gave me an opportunity to speak Spanish (Catalan - beyond me at the moment). I speak reasonable Spanish so language was not a problem but this could be an issue for mono-lingual types such as most people from the UK. Example of efficiency - iron broke and was replaced the next day.

Issues - no order of importance

(1) Motorways were not really a problem for us during the day - in fact the proximity helped get quick access to other areas. At night, as the windows were open you could hear the traffic - especially if the wind was blowing towards the house from the motorway. It was only a minor issue

(2) The dog in the compound sometimes barked at night and were slightly more irritating than sound of the distant motorway. Most of our party found the dog interesting - shame he had to spend his time locked up! These expensive houses need to have dogs. Charlie adds: no, the dog doesn´t have to be kept locked up if you don´t want to. Some guests have "adopted" him during their stay.

(3) The gardens were very nice

(4) For the size of the house - actually it can house 16 people if the caretaker’s flat is used - the pool was a little small. Nevertheless the pool is nice. The fence around the pool is a good safety feature for those with small children.

(5) Kitchen is very good and traditional. The indoor barbecue worked well if the switch for the electric chimney extractor was switched on

(6) We had some difficulty finding instructions for the dishwasher and washer - but no problem at the end of the day.

Acid test - Would I stay in Cal Moro again? Definitely - yes.

I’d be happy to discuss the place with anybody and give further views.

Regards
David

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