Restoration

The oldest house in the old village is purported to be the Maison des Juges. It is also the only half timbered house in the village. It is tucked away and difficult to find. It appears quite small from the street but in fact is a very extensive building. It dates back to the Middle Ages and supposedly housed eminent purveyors of the law. It was totally derelict and some friends bought it to clean it up for resale. It had been inhabited by drug users and the job was dirty and unpleasant. My friends did not have the money to restore the house, but now somebody with obvious wealth has purchased it and has begun the enormous task of restoration. When I first visited the house, I found a rabbit warrant of rooms and passages. One of the chest ofdrawers was lined with newspaper pages reporting the Retirada of 1939 when Spanish Republicans flooded across the border at the end of the Spanish Civil War. Understandably, the house has been remodelled over the years and part of the ground floor even contains a section of one of the old village cobbled streets.