Featured article

Finding the perfect, luxury home for sale on the Costa Blanca can be surprisingly difficult – if you are looking for somewhere that has character, is well located, private, fully renovated (to a luxurious standard) and suitable for children.

This may seem an odd assertion but look around and you will see that many properties for sale in Spain are on anaemic new estates with an elderly or second home demographic.  To make matters worse, these properties (however luxurious) tend to have small plots and are not located close to schools and services.  Frequently, they suffer from drawbacks such as dull, uniform design or minimal accommodation – something that is far from desirable for family life.

Of course, there are exceptions to the general rule.  One is the house of a friend of mine, located close to the vibrant town of Gandia in Valencia Province.  If you are looking for a Spanish property that is truly exceptional it deserves close attention: it represents, to my mind, the best luxury family home for sale in Spain (and I have seen hundreds!).

So, what makes this gorgeous villa so different and so perfect?

Well there are four principal reasons:

1.   It is a very substantial property of tremendous character, comprising some 843m2(!) of build on a 4,439m2 urbano plot.

There are six double bedroom suites (including a vast master bedroom suite) and a separate one bedroom apartment.  The property also has a library, television room, huge double-height main living area, dining room, a games room with fitted cupboards and study – so, there is ample space for entertaining, working, relaxing and for children to play.

As you would expect, the kitchen is very large, open plan and ideal for either family use or the preparation of food for large parties.  It is also perfectly located beside the dining room, whilst having direct access out to the terrace beside the swimming pool. The house has several covered terrace areas for relaxation or dining, with fabulous views across the valley to the surrounding mountains and to the sea.

The swimming pool is completely private and very large (15m x 5m and 3m deep) and has a diving board and salt water cleaning system.  It is a heated pool with an automatic pool cover (essential when small children are around) and there is also a separate 5m x 2m Jacuzzi with water jets!

The house also has a massive garage with a gym, workbench DIY area and room for three cars – with an additional storage room with fitted cupboards. The property has air-conditioning and an oil-fired heating system, although with an impressive main fireplace and two top-quality wood-burning stoves the latter is rarely needed.

2.   The property has a superb and very large (4,439m2) private plot that is not overlooked by any other houses.  Gloriously, the plot is mature and blessed with many productive fruit trees, extensive flower beds, a vegetable garden and an extensive area laid to lawn.  The garden is fully irrigated (from a private, economical, urbanisation well) and even has a practice area for golf!

Meanwhile, high fences and hedges surround the garden and make it completely secure, allowing your children and any pets to roam freely and safely.

3.  The villa is located just outside Gandia and has a wonderful position that overlooks the verdant citrus groves of La Safor.  The sea forms a glorious visual boundary to one side of the property with, to the other, dramatic mountains that rise steeply up from the surrounding land.

In fact, one of the delights of the villa is that the fantastic beaches of La Safor are little more than a ten minute drive away, whilst an equivalent journey takes you into the mountains and superb walking in totally unspoilt wilderness areas.  These are also great for mountain biking, rock climbing and bird watching.

Perhaps, most importantly, the villa is within five minutes’ drive of a first class, private Spanish school which takes pupils from kindergarten age all the way through to Bachillerato (UK ‘A’ Level equivalent).  The children of the owners go to this school and can confirm that the school works well and provides a sound and loving education.  Meanwhile, an international school is located in nearby Alzira in which the British curriculum is taught – should you wish your children to have an English-speaking education, whilst several more international/British schools are accessible in Javea and Valencia.

Gandia, of course, is well known as a remarkably well-connected town.  It is only 50 minutes’ drive (or train ride) to Valencia City and its international airport and is close to two excellent golf courses located at Oliva Nova and Carcaixent (Gandia itself has a nine hole course and a vibrant tennis club).  The town has fine restaurants, hundreds of bars and cafes and all the shops (big and small) that you could possibly need for day to day living.  Indeed, the infrastructure surrounding the villa is comprehensive and you can obtain anything you need with ease.

4.  The villa has been extensively (and very tastefully) renovated by the current owners, who have spared no expense in making sure that the property is in immaculate condition, with all the fixtures and fittings of the highest quality. Two important features of the house are that the layout works wonderfully – despite being a very large property all the rooms are usable and everything is logically located, and the attention to detail. All this makes the villa practical and comfortable as well as being visually impressive.

It also goes without saying that this property is fully legal and has the full range of services that you would expect with regard to mains water, electricity and land line telephone lines (with ADSL). The house also benefits from a delightful communal area which is shared with the other twelve properties on the estate, comprising a very large swimming pool, tennis court and grass picnic area.

Incidentally, the villa has been built on two urbano plots – which means that a further property could be built on the land for relatives or sold independently.  Equally, the villa is distributed so well that it could easily be used as a boutique hotel (with, perhaps, the independent apartment as accommodation for the owners or managers).

So, can you find a finer luxury home for sale on the Costa Blanca?

I rather doubt it, frankly, and I have seen thousands of properties in Spain.

So, if you want a luxurious family property in Spain – one that has a wonderful atmosphere and one that has everything that you could possibly desire – then La Masia is surely for you!

Nick Snelling (author of ‘How to Buy Spanish Property and Move to Spain – Safely!)