This old house

This road from Centenys to who knows where, runs for about 6kms along the escarpment above the Fluvia, through pretty pine woods and sheep meadows.

The old farmhouse (masia) straddles the road and it appears that in the olden days the road or track would have run through the farmyard itself.

It probably dates from the mid 17th century and you can still see the features that distinguished the typical Catalan farmhouse. The animals would be quartered on the ground floor, usually in a series of quite small vaulted chambers, the family would live on the first floor benefiting from the warmth rising from the herd or flock, and the top floor had an open gallery for drying corn, beans, straw etc.

The archways are mostly intact and in good condition though any woodwork has long disappeared and nature is slowly eroding the walls, but enough remains to allow the original shape of the house and barn to be seen and to give an impression that with the view down into the valley it would have been in a commanding position.

Many of these old houses have been sold off and restored or remodelled into comfortable homes, those that are left in an original state are usually locked up by Spanish inheritance law where over three or four generations there can be multiple owners and trying to purchase means getting agreement from often estranged cousins, or grannies.

Perhaps the other reason this remains unmolested is that the proximity of the road, quiet though it is, has put off potential restorers.