. Maisons de vacances à Torrox, Costa del Sol, Spain.

Our house is one of the oldest and largest in the historic centre and dates back to the 16th century. It's front door is only half a minute’s walk from the main square, the Plaza de la Constitucion, with its cafes and restaurants but, at the back, it overlooks the river, open countryside and spectacular mountains. The house is on three floors surrounding a central andaluz patio with open staircase. It is a family home but has two self-contained floors that are available for holiday letting when not used for holidays by members of the family itself.

The rebuilding and refurbishment of the house from its semi-ruinous state has been a long project which is still continuing. We are currently investigating methods of restoring the original decoration on the street facade.

The second floor flat – The Castilette – sleeps four with the possibility of an extra two. It has an enormous living room under the roof. It has a grand open fireplace for those cooler winter evenings although the flat is also centrally heated. There are two bedrooms, one, with an antique double canopy bed, the other with two single beds.

The ground floor flat - sleeps two with the possibility of two more. The furnishings are mostly old and antique. The living room, dining room and bedroom all open directly onto the flower filled terrace. It is centrally heated for those winter evenings when, even in Andalusia, there is a nip in the air. The bedroom is 3 m x 4.35 m (10ft x 12ft). The bathroom has a shower cubicle and there is a heated towel rail.

In between these two flats is my and my partner's own home where we live permanently and are therefore on hand to help with information and make sure your stay is a pleasant one. We have six cats but they are confined to our part of the house. The house has wireless internet connection. Typically in these villages, you cannot park immediately in front of the house but we are on the only street through the old centre that does take traffic and you can park within a few minutes walking distance.

Spanish village life can be noisy, especially when there are fiestas, and there is always building work going on in the vicinity, but the house is so solidly constructed that this is never a real nuisance. We would not recommend our house for people who want a total beach holiday but for those who want to combine the beach with a touch of real Spain it is ideal.

The house is known locally, without any real proof, as the House of the Inquisition and is thought to have been the home of various famous people including Luis de Torres, the Jewish convert, who sailed with Christopher Columbus, as translator, on his first voyage to America. It's geographical location makes visits to Granada with the world famous Alhambra, Sevilla with it's cathedral, Córdoba with it's mezquita, and of course Málaga with the new and impressive Picasso museum, all easily accessible.

Please call owner for detail rates.