La Finca
El Cipreret (Little Cypress) is a 200 year old finca set in the Sierra de Mariola national park just one hour north of Alicante. The park is one of Spain’s best kept secrets; an area of outstanding beauty, with endless forest trails and quiet roads just perfect for mountain and road biking, walking, bird watching, thinking time or just plain relaxing. This is real Spain.
Completely run down when we first acquired it, we are restoring and enhancing the farmhouse into a luxurious, contemporary space. Whether you’re after utter peace and quiet or adrenaline filled rides, or even a bit of both, we will have something for you. It’s up to you…relax by the pool or on our stunning veranda with views to die for, or burn off all that gorgeous food riding the trails of the park.
The overwhelming scent of rosemary, thyme and pine trees is the first thing that greets you when you arrive at el Cipreret. Linger a moment to take in the beauty of our farmhouse and gardens, the stunning mountain and forest views and the complete tranquillity (apart from the cicadas and birds of course). And if you arrive after dark the sight of so many stars in the clear night sky is breath taking.
We have a lot to do to rescue El Cipreret and complete the restoration. Follow us on Instagram and join our mailing list for updates. Do keep an eye on our website for progress!
Once complete we aim to offer luxurious four day weekend breaks; arriving Wednesday evening and leaving Sunday evening. We’ll make life easy for you with an airport pick up so you can make the most of our activity filled or complete relaxation long weekends. Our weekend breaks include beautiful accommodation, all-inclusive meals and guided mountain biking.
Our target for opening is Spring 2022. Only time will tell if that is achievable!
We hope to see you soon.
Restoration
Restoring a 200 year old building in a Spanish national park is not for the feint hearted. So many different authorities to work with, licences to secure, an old building crying out to be homely once again, a location with important fauna and flora all require dedication and commitment.
We’re determined to retain as many of the original features of the main house, barn and courtyard buildings as possible. Our style can be described as rustic yet contemporary, luxurious yet simple. The barn will host a large open plan kitchen, dining and sitting room with views across to the peak of the beautiful Montcabrer mountain. Underfloor heating along with wood burning stoves will ensure the winter nights are cosy and warm. At 900m above sea level, our summer temperatures are less humid and considerably more comfortable than the coast and our winters drier with extensive blue skies and sunny days.
To the front of the main house we will add a rustic tiled veranda to offer a shady place to sit, eat and soak up the view. The ground floor of the main house will retain an open plan entrance lobby, treatment room and relaxed seating area along with a guest tea/coffee kitchenette and honesty bar. The 5 ensuite guest rooms around the beautiful courtyard garden will also benefit from a library/sitting room complete with the original ‘feeding mangers’ remodelled into a cosy snug.
We’ll be shopping for suitable architectural salvage items and old pieces of furniture to ensure we achieve a contemporary yet traditional look and feel.
Outside amongst the landscaped, terraced garden there will be a stunning ‘lap’ pool with views across the park and Montcabrer. With endless places to sit, relax and take in the beauty and tranquillity of our stunning location we are confident you’ll fall in love with the Sierra de Mariola.
Eco credentials
From a completely different era and way of life; the original finca had no electricity or plumbing, an open fire to cook on and relied on buckets down the nearby well for water. Not surprisingly El Cipreret has not been lived in for c 40-50 years.
Everything about the restored El Cipreret is designed to have as little impact on the environment as possible and to be sympathetic to the unique flora and fauna that surrounds us. Our location in the national park means we have to be completely self-sufficient for our energy needs. Thank goodness technology has advanced to provide us with a reliable source of solar generated electricity and hot water alongside a supplementary, eco friendly pellet boiler for underfloor heating and hot water.
Accommodation
We will have 5 double guest rooms set around an enclosed courtyard. All benefit from a Super-King or Twin bed set up with full en-suite bathroom facilities. One of our ground floor courtyard rooms is built to accommodate those less mobile. Originally built for animals rather than people, the approach to restoration will be to provide luxurious, comfortable rooms whilst retaining as many of their original ‘rustic farm’ features as possible.
Mariola Secreta
Bocairent
Coming Soon