Unique Estates

So you want rustic charm and some land around you but are not prepared to move deep into the countryside. It seems a common dilemma, but occasionally you do find a property that is a country villa not just in style but also in space and scope – yet situated on the doorstep of town and beach.

A highly exclusive and well-established area defined by its famous golf course, Las Brisas is positioned in the heart of the so-called Golf Valley of Nueva Andalucía. The latter, a collection of mainly villa suburbs intersected by golf courses, occupies a bowl-like valley five minutes north of Puerto Banús and ten minutes northwest of Marbella town.

Though the classic Bogart-Bergman film of the same name was set in Morocco, its sense of elegance and intimacy perhaps portrays the Marbella suburb better than it does the large North African metropolis. Little-known to outsiders, this small but highly exclusive residential area manages to be right on the edge of Marbella town yet wonderfully private and peaceful, exactly because it is such a well-kept secret.

In certain circles when people speak of ‘an important’ home they are referring to a property such as this. In an environment where fawning superlatives are considered gauche this rather understated description says more than enough, conveying the sense of a property that can hold its own with the finest anywhere in the world.

Avant-garde architectural styles are currently very much in vogue in the Marbella area, replacing a spell during which colonial décors were de rigueur indoors, and contemporary Mediterranean architectural lines predominated outdoors. Against all of this, however, there is a timeless classic that retains its standing and attraction throughout. The country style, as exemplified by the stately Andalusian house, is very well at home in this southern part of Spain.