From a Ruin to a small Rural Boutique Hotel

Casa Vella del Panta was built in 1905 following the traditional style of infrastructure buildings of that time. The house was meant to be the control center for the Dam, but due to technical difficulties, the Dam was moved approx. 800 meters and this house was left unused.

At first acquaintance, there was no roof or floor, just the outer walls, charm, lots of potentials, and the vision of what this place could be. So, in 2007 we went to talk to the owners, the Water Dam community, the Comunitat de Regants del Pantà de Riudecanyes, and two years later we got to an agreement. Paperwork and building permits were presented in 2010, and we finally started work in 2012.

One of our objectives was to live in and by nature, by being partly self-sufficient, producing a great part of our energy, having our own vegetable gardens, animals, being respectful of nature and what it offers us, and transmitting these values to our three daughters, without renouncing comfort.

Sustainability

The choice to have Inés, from the Institute of Permaculture, as our architect was crucial to help us align our eco-interests and values. The sustainable building included passive strategies, like auto ventilating tiles on the roof, plants covering exterior walls to avoid heating up in summer, a vast masonry stove for heating in the wintertime (highly efficient and also used for cooking), and biological depuration of residual water and reuse for watering.
For the interior, natural and healthy materials that breathe: clay wall coatings, clay floor treated with beeswax and linseed oil, and tadelakt on the bathrooms (a very exclusive application process of lime worked with a round stone and rubbed with black olive oil soap), a process that is both beautiful and easy maintenance. With a new set of solar panels, the masia is now totally 0% CO2 emitting. All that is left is to enjoy the fruits of our labor with you.

Products from the masia

• Planks of Centenary Cedar Tree, from trees planted beside the house, which were affected by the big fire in 1994. They were cut down on the land, where they have laid ever since. Cedar tree is known for its resistance against insects and rot, what we could see and we had this incredible well-scented cedar tree cut into planks and pieces, and we are crafting them into small tables, desks, shelves, and cutting boards and butcher blocks for cutting vegetables in the kitchen, etc.
• We are planting trees such as: olive trees, hazelnut, almonds, pistachio, and a variety of fruit trees, in order to harvest and make delicious breakfast marmalades and other products. All of our recipes will be shared on our profile on Facebook
• Honey from our bees