This was a dark house in the Pyrenees that nobody wanted. But, the owner, dared to throw away partitions (and taboos) and let the color in!
A HOUSE WITH HISTORY
Goodbye to the dark woods on the mountain. Houses of little light, your era has come to an end. So at least Monica, the owner, decreed it for hers in Cerler, Huesca, a house for which nobody gave a penny! Until she, with her inspiration and the help of her friend the architect Tote Moreno, from Factoría UDA.
LET THE LIGHT PASS
This house was not sold because people said it had no light. They started to throw partitions, also a partition that served as a windbreak here at the entrance and added it as a space to the house and now it is super bright! And, in the hall, a bench to place boots and helmets underneath is a simple and very cozy solution.
WHAT ROOFS!
They didn’t know what the roof looked like until they did the work. And they decided to keep it, which set the style of the house. When they bought it, the roof was covered and there were more partitions. By the year of construction of the gunwale (the name used in the Pyrenees to refer to the building used to protect livestock or their food), they imagined that a wooden ceiling but didn’t know what condition it would be in.
SINGLE SPACE
First, they planned the house in a rather Nordic style, with Finnish airs, painting the ceilings, and everything in white. But when this spectacular ceiling appeared, they changed their mind and leaned towards a more rustic style. And were absolutely right: those original beams are pure poetry!
WOOD IN ESSENCE AND NATURAL
The owner asked the carpenter for several wall-to-wall shelves. They wanted as a work plank, do not polish anything, the wood as is.
A VERY RUSTIC OPEN KITCHEN
The kitchen is another point that makes this house the perfect mountain refuge. It had to be open. They wanted a complete shelf. So everything is flush and it seems that it was all shelves. The shelf is with irregular cubicles and the bottle rack above. The color is a function of the cement. They didn’t want chairs, because they didn’t have much space. Chairs have also been dispensed with and, therefore, in the dining room, benches have been placed on both sides of the table and stools on the island.
THE TOILET SETS THE STYLE
For the tones of the house, the determining factor was the bathrooms. It sounds curious, but the owners had a head full of ideas and were very clear that they were going to be made of stained concrete. They were looking for a khaki gray, and when they gave them the final shade, that’s where they got the color for the carpentry.
TOWARDS THE MASTER BEDROOM
The old door was acquired from an antique dealer in Barbastro. There are three more in the whole house. It is undoubtedly one of the most striking elements and almost the only ones since the idea was not to recharge anything.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SPACES
They asked the windows to be set back halfway, as in old houses, and so it had that space for a sofa.
A typical Pyrenean building, from 1870, with a lot of stone and wood, is one thing but a dark house after all in this prodigy that we would call of the ‘New Mountain’ that we see now.
AND WHY WAS IT NOT BEING SOLD?
People said it had no light. They started pulling partitions, also a partition that served as a windbreaker and we added it as a space to the house and now it is super bright! This mountain house is now modern, even with Provencal airs! A lot out there. Oh, those baskets. Oh, that light, Oh, that romantic nose. The next time someone tells you “this house nobody wants it” … look at it again.
