Casa Mandarina

It seems that although we have been here seven weeks already, I have done a poor job of letting you know about where we are staying. This is important because, while we have been on the move quite a bit, the time we spend at this incredible home, called 'Casa Manadarina' is worth sharing.

The home sits in a hillside housing development that began in the 1970s. The hills are relatively steep and to get to our rental we must wind our way up the hill for close to two miles (after entering). Apparently the hills are steep enough that a few homes have lost their footing and slid down a bit but the landlord assured me that the home we are staying in “has more concrete under it than above”.

The design of the home is classic Spanish Mediterranean on the exterior with a distinctly Moroccan interior. The furnishings include many pieces from Morocco and India and the attention to detail is phenomenal. I am still noticing for the first time little architectural elements and furnishings that seem so natural and fittingly eclectic (whatever that means).

The floor plan does a wonderful job of maximizing the view corridors and giving the house privacy. The house opens into a large great room with glass doors opening to the balcony, which overlooks the pool and the Mediterranean Sea. A not-so-small nook off this room has become a great area for the kids to play. Off another side of the room is the dining room, which looks out to the hills. In between the dining room table and small sitting area that opens into the kitchen is a spiral staircase that goes up to a tower room that has a projector that throws a picture onto a white wall across the room. This room has low furniture and a really cool Arabic lamp that hangs over the staircase.

Outside is a large pool that has an infinity effect out to the Mediterranean. Vasco always throws a fit when his Sponge Bob rubber ball looks like it is going to float off the edge into the great unknown. At the end of the pool, off to the left is another covered outside dining area that looks out over the town and the castle.

Four large bedrooms are down below and when the shutters on the windows are shut, it is hard not to sleep well into the morning. The master bedroom looks out over the infinity pool to the sea. The kitchen is really well equipped and while we have not done as much cooking of local cuisine as we had hoped, we have done a lot of cooking.