Casa El Naranjo, an Andalusian townhouse with artist's patio near Seville

A Renovated Andalusian Home Built Around an Orange Tree Patio

The house began as a traditional Andalusian townhouse—thick-walled, inward-facing, built around a courtyard. Esperanza's renovation kept the logic of that form while opening the ground floor entirely: spaces connect without partition, the kitchen flows into the living room, the dining room rises to double height. Glass slides away. Inside becomes outside.

The ground floor reads as one continuous space: living room with a wood-burning stove, fully equipped kitchen with induction cooktop, dishwasher and coffee machine, and a dining table that seats eight. Throughout, contemporary furniture from Esperanza's Milan home sits alongside bespoke pieces made by local artisans, and canvases painted by the owner hang on almost every wall. The first floor houses two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a dedicated office with an extra monitor, set up for remote working.

The private patio is the heart of the house. A mature orange tree, bearing fruit through the winter months, grows from the center. A large retractable sun screen covers a corner sofa at the rear, giving shade through the hottest part of the afternoon. Sliding glass doors from the dining room mean lunch or dinner moves outside without ceremony. An outdoor shower is accessed from the first-floor bathroom.

What we love

The patio has everything you need for slow living: an orange tree, a corner sofa under the shade screen, glass doors that fold the dining room into the open air. This is village life at its best where the square and the bakery are a short walk away. For the adventurous, Seville and the Atlantic coast are great day trips.

Layout

This vacation home for rent near Seville, Andalusia, sleeps up to six guests in three bedrooms across two floors.

On the ground floor: one bedroom with a double bed and private en-suite bathroom. The ground floor living room, kitchen, and dining area are fully open-plan.

On the first floor: one bedroom with a queen bed, one bedroom with two single beds (which can be configured as a double), a shared bathroom, and the office.

The studio can be converted into an additional bedroom with a sofa bed for two guests, accommodating a total of eight. However, six guests is the optimal total for comfort.

Good to know

The village public pool is a 10-minute walk and open during summer. Check-in is via lockbox. There is air conditioning on the ground and first floor, in all three bedrooms, the living room and the studio.

The village has supermarkets, a pharmacy, restaurants, and bars within walking distance. Solar panels provide the home's electricity. A car is useful for reaching Doñana National Park (30 minutes), the Atlantic beaches (45 minutes), and the Sierra de Huelva mountains (50 minutes), though Seville itself is reachable by train.

Amenities & services

Private patio, orange tree, outdoor shower, wood-burning stove, air conditioning, solar panels, fully equipped kitchen, induction cooktop, dishwasher, oven, microwave, coffee machine, dining table (seats eight), dedicated workspace, extra monitor, wifi, washing machine, lockbox self check-in, retractable sun screen, corner sofa, garden view, carbon monoxide alarm, smoke alarm

Around

Carrión de los Céspedes sits in the Aljarafe, the plateau west of Seville where the olive groves thin out and the villages turn quieter. The 15th-century Mudejar church of San Martín de Tours anchors the village square; the embroidered Manila shawls made here have been traded across Spain for generations. Seville's cathedral quarter is 30 minutes by car, or 40 by the regional Renfe train that runs four or five times daily from the village station. The wetlands and mobile dunes of Doñana National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site and Europe's most significant bird habitat, are about 30 minutes south. Atlantic beaches are 45 minutes. The jamón-producing mountain villages of the Sierra de Huelva are under an hour. A car is recommended for anything beyond the village.