Mas Pepito - Casa Tilo

Between Mountains and Sea

A family of creative siblings joined forces to revive this rambling farmhouse complex into a lyrical, country living retreat, a private, road-less-traveled-kind-of-location ideal for making art, preparing nourishment, unwinding gently and gathering creative inspiration. 

The house is surrounded by the simple beauty of the natural world—cultivated fields, distant mountains, and the nearly adjacent coastline with its coved, golden sand beaches. It's only 3km from the beaches of Empuries, close to Cadaques and Girona, and within easy each of key spots on the Costa Brava, including Callella, Aiguablava, Pals and Emporda Peratallada, and La Bisbal. The area is a beloved destination for artists, known for its summer festivals like Castell de Peralada and Cap Roig.

A budding ceramicist in a tight-knit family of Spanish creatives has opened her private residence in a recently restored rural compound in Emporda, a Catalonian region with wild, rugged inland landscapes and the pine-studded Costa Brava a few kilometers away. One of four independent family homes in the complex, this villa for rent in Spain features private entrances and outdoor spaces, and shares a large garden and natural dipping pool with the siblings’ properties.

Lyrical and unassuming, the farmhouse features weathered wood floors married gracefully with newer polished concrete surfaces, breezy white walls hung with ceramic sconces created by the owner, heirloom furnishings offset by more contemporary pieces, and an ambiance of ease and unplugged, unhurried living. 

The home feels a little like the beloved getaway of a no-frills friend with a knack for putting together timeless, welcoming spaces. It’s easygoing and personalized, with rooms inviting you to enjoy life’s simplest pleasures, a true Home, Sweet Home. Details set the tranquil space apart—a framed art collection creates a collage-like bedroom backdrop, the kitchen’s glass-front cabinet stacked with colorful crockery, foraged dried botanicals fill old stoneware, and exposed stone, wood and bricks have been lovingly retained and restored as eye-catching accents.

Creative travelers may be interested in the 120sqm space on the site that can be used as an artist's studio. This property is also great for photo shoots. Please inquire for further details.

There is an additional home on the same estate; click to visit Casa Sauco.

Around

Set among cultivated fields in the Empordà region, the northernmost part of Catalonia that’s home to Girona, the Costa Brava, and a DOC wine region of the same name, this villa for rent in Spain is an authentic country home only minutes from the Mediterranean and the ancient Greek ruins at Emporium. The region is dotted with isolated medieval villages, vineyards, and pine-forested Mediterranean coves, accessible via footpaths through the trees. It's walking distance from two towns.

The Montgrí, the landscape that gives the home its name, is a small mountain range and natural park rising from the north bank of the Ter River that’s topped by a fortified castle, built between 1294 and 1301. The Montgrí’s famed rocky outcroppings continue down to the Mediterranean coast, where in places, boats alone can access rugged inlets. Other beaches require a hike to access but, once there, boast unspoiled sands and photo-worthy, dramatic rock formations rising from the sea. 

Underwater caves in the area offer opportunities for guided snorkeling, and sailing outfitters offer captained tours along the coast from small fishing villages and picturesque port towns. The half dozen beaches of nearby Sant Martí d’Empúries (only 4 kilometers away) offer golden sands against windswept pine-forested backdrops. This more open coastal area is popular with wind and kite surfers, wakeboarders, sailors, and sea kayakers. 

Inland, the region’s landscapes tend toward the pastoral and cultivated. Cycling and driving along the wine and olive routes and visiting the occasional, family-run tasting room shouldn’t be missed, nor should walking the area’s signature stony villages. Outdoor enthusiasts will welcome the chance to head to the mountains where opportunities for more vigorous hiking, biking and exploring are abundant.

Location

Albons, Catalonia, Spain. Nearest airports: Girona, Barcelona

Best time to visit

April to October