Architects: Pepe Gascón Arquitectura
Area: 2,960 ft²
Year: 2021
Photography: Aitor Estévez
Manufacturers: Hansgrohe, Foc Factory, Grifería Rovira, Rajoleria Llensa, Villeroy & Boch
Lead Architect: Pepe Gascón
Lighting Design: Ca.2l
Interior Design: Josep Curanta
Builder: Maya construcción y estructuras, SL
City: Mont-ras
Country: Spain
Can Freixes House, a Masia renovation project by Pepe Gascón Arquitectura in Mont-ras, Spain, revitalizes a traditional farmhouse. The project restores the original elements and character while improving an incongruent 1980s extension. Completed in 2021, this 2960 ft² renovation preserves the Masia’s essence by using reclaimed materials and traditional design features to enhance its historical identity. Significant structural modifications include ground floor adjustments, new vertical-style exterior openings, and an English-style courtyard, all set within a palette of ochre colors and rough textures.
A Masia is a rural structure, typically isolated, and historically connected to family farms or livestock. Common throughout eastern Spain and southern France, these buildings possess unique characteristics shaped by the needs of their inhabitants.
Each Masia is distinct, influenced by a blend of logical design and improvisation, tailored to the family’s requirements. Traditionally, construction prominently features stone and ceramics. Ground floors often include barrel vaults to protect wooden beams from damp conditions.
This particular renovation is situated in Baix Empordà, amidst dry farming fields. The farmhouse, once part of a larger single building, shares a wall with another structure. An extension added in the 1980s deviated from traditional aesthetics, distorting its original appearance.
The renovation aimed to restore the Masia’s essence, preserving and enhancing the original elements found mainly on the ground floor. Efforts included lowering and opening the ground floor to the rear land, filling in the barrel vault, plastering vaulted ceilings after removing ceramic vaults, reducing the impact of non-typical grey stone, creating new vertical-style exterior openings, and adding an English-style courtyard on the street side.
Reclaimed materials such as stone jambs, lintels, handmade ceramic tiles, doors, washbasins, sinks, fences, lanterns, fountains, and furniture are integrated throughout, reinforcing the Masia’s identity in a setting rich with ochre tones and textured materials.
Project Gallery
Project Location
Address: Mont-Ras, Spain
Location is for general reference and may represent a city or country, not necessarily a precise address.
