www.villascostabrava.net: Villa rentals in Barcelona and Costa Brava
You can see Mas Roca just behind the hamlet of Estanyol. As you can see it is a very beautiful area
  • independent villa on huge 110 hectaire private estate
  • six bedrooms and four bathtooms, sleeps up to 14
  • central heating, washer-dryer, cable TV, DVD, radio/cassette/CD, etc..
  • altitude: 120mtrs, 30kms to sea, 1/2 km from little hamlet, 90 kms to Barcelona, 8 kms to Girona
  • private unfenced swimming pool (10x6m) and tennis wall
  • current rates:: high-season: 2255 Euros/week, mid-season: 2050 Euros/week, low-season: 1680/week

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    Click here for Comments from past visitors to this house

    Click here for travel information on this area



    a bird's eye view of Mas Roca taken in July 2002 just after renovation of this house Mas Roca in on the same huge property (110 hectaires) as Mas Grau, about three-quarters of a kilometer away. It is a house of a quite high standard which is being rented at a very competitive rate. In fact I had the pleasure of being the first to stay in this house when it was inaugurated as a rental villa in the Spring of 2002. I was there with my wife, Dolina, and my mother, who was visiting from the US, and we couldn't have been more pleased. This house has it all - a lot of pros and very few (if any) cons! Mas Roca is very well documented in the photos and if you place the cursor over each photo a descriptive text appears to compliment my written description. As you can see from the Comments Page past guests seem to be very happy with the place and bookings come quite early for this house, so book well ahead of time for Mas Roca.


    the pool at Mas Roca is between the house and the tennis wall Location: like Mas Grau, Mas Roca is situated a few hundred meters outside of the tiny hamlet of Estanyol, a couple kilometers by car or the bike path to shopping in Aiguaviva, and 8 kms southwest of lovely historic Girona and the markets and supermarkets there. The house and large grounds are completely private and you have no neighbors nearby. The pool and the tennis wall are under pine and holm oak (the owners sell cork to some of the big Catalan cava producers). There are very good restaurants in the area (you can walk to two restaurants in Estanyol itself, one of them quite nice and with an elegant terraced café just 500 meters from Mas Roca) and you can choose to shop in small specialty shops in nearby villages or go to the big supermarkets outside of Girona. Locals buy meats and breads and veggies and perhaps even wine by the liter in specialty mom n pop shops and only go to the supermarkets to stock up on basics.


    reverse angle, with stairway to upstairs bedrooms on the left. there are two other ways into the house, so we ended up not using this main entryway, as the others were more convenient to the kitchen and roomsThe house: the villa is tucked just behind a curve in a little transited road between Estanyol and Bescanó, where there is a good horseback riding club with restaurant (and one guests wrote in to tell me there is a good wine shop there too - see the comments page). A dirth path winds around the front of the house, passing the swimming pool on the left, to the large parking area around to the back. One of the things I like about Mas Roca is that there are three entryways into the lower floor: 1) the rather grand wooden-planked main entrance into the central downstairs hallway 2) another nice old large doorway enters into the main dining room and kitchen area 3) and there is a back door in to the back passageway where the washing machine is kept which goes directly to the downstairs bedroom and bathroom.


    the dining room has a door to the garden sitting area and pool and parking spacesAs you would expect, there is an shaded outdoor sitting area with the BBQ just outside the entryway to the kitchen and dining room. The dining room has a long wooden planked table and benches seating up to 14 or so, with a fireplace nearby. Stone walls and beamed ceiling make it rustic and cozy in equal measure. The kitchen is right next to the dining table but in a separate room. The kitchen is quite spacious, about 25m2, and well equipped with plenty of counterspace lining three of the four walls.


    the kitchen has dishwasher, microwave, large fridge, and is generally well equippedAcross the downstairs central hallway is the huge living room, about 50m2, which has two sofas, two easy chairs, more bench-type seating near the TV (DVD, CD/radio/cassette player), and one of those round card tables. The TV has cable which allows you to watch movies and shows in orginal version - meaing in most cases English! Perhaps the nicest feature of this living room are the three large double-glazed windows affording nice views out onto the garden and letting in lots of sunlight. This is a feature which really sets this house apart from the owner´s other house, Mas Grau. Mas Grau is monumental, but you would wish there were three large windows in the living room there! The large downstairs bedroom (1) is at the end of the downstairs hallway, up three steps (so not good for wheelchairs), and this bedroom has a double bed and a single bed, and a private bathroom, with a nice wide walk-in, slate-floored shower. The water pressure is excellent.


    the living room is large and has plenty of windows, along with satellite TV, DVD, radio/cassette/CD player, and plenty of reading lightsUpstairs there is a large central living room leading to the five other bedrooms, two of which are off on a separate wing, so all the rooms are somewhat far apart and more private than, say, rooms lined up in a linear hallway. Let´s describe the layout of bedrooms and bathrooms: 2) with a lovely private terrace under crooked old wooden beams overlooking the pool, there is a large en suite room with double bed and private bathroom with bathtub. On one side of the upstairs salon, there are two rooms on either side of a bathroom, this a full bathroom with bathtub. 3) One bedroom has three single beds, and 4) the other bedroom has a double bed. Across the hall there is a little wing with two bedrooms, 5) one room with double bed and a small bathroom with shower, and another 6) bedroom with two single beds. The small bathroom for room 5 has two doors, one direct to the bedroom and one to the salon, for easy access for room 6.


    reserve angle of living room

    So to sum up, Mas Roca is fast becoming our most sought after property. Just to compare it with nearby Mas Grau, while Mas Grau is more grand and impressive, this house is just a bit more comfortable and conventional, a bit more modern but still with lots of charm. At the time of writing this, October 29 of 2005, we already have 10 weeks booked for next year, 2006! So do book early...




     




    the entryway, main hall downstairs, doorway to dinning room and kitchen on the left, the doorway to the living room on right beyond stairway, and the downstairs triple bedroom and bathroom staight ahead upstairs central hallway around which three rooms are distributed this is one of the tiled bathrooms, I can´t remember which... 1st floor bedroom one has a door directly to the bathroom, so could be considered en suite, but the bathroom also has a door to the main hallway, so can be shared with room three, which has no bathroom the downstairs room is a triple, but the extra bed can be moved out. There is a nicely decorated bathroom with a fancy walk-in shower on a slate floor next door, and this part of the house has a separate entrace hallway, where the washing machine and clothes dryer are kept. room 2 has a private bath and a nice big terrace overlooking the pool the other first floor bedroom ...so this must be the other. These two rooms share the full bathroom in between the rooms, and there is a large closet in the hallway and here is the tennis wall, on the other side of the pool, under the tall pines and twisted cork oaks. I think the hillside would be great for kids there are now 8 loungechairs for the pool, as well as two large parasols, and plenty of inflatable toys for tots

    • cleaning and linen change weekly
    • public transport: bus to within 600 meters, train from to within 8 kms
    • free firewood (oak)
    • cooks and cleaning help available upon request
    • 3 km to riding club
    • 6 km to tennis club and municipal pool
    • a short drive to half a dozen quality golf courses
    • two restaurants in town, 200 & 500 meters away







    Why inland farmhouse rental?

    Not only is it simply nicer to stay in an old restored farmhouse, but also …

    • eco-tourism helps preserve traditional ways of life
    • agro-tourism revitalizes depopulated villages
    • sustainable tourism controls the environmental impact (of tourism)
    • package tour operators leave little to nothing in local economy
    • mass tourism is an abomination - just look at so much of our coasts!
    Catalan Tourism Authorities

    This sign indicates that the Catalan Tourism Authorities regularly inspect and license the property. We have also visited and recommend all the properties we have selected for our listings.