Magazine Article in "Homes Away From Home"

Magazine Article

This magazine article about the farmhouse at Los Piedaos appeared
in the May 2005 edition of "Homes Away From Home".

On dry land ...... After many years of watery wanderings in a yacht of his own design, architect David Dry weighed anchor many kilometres inland from Andalucia's bustling coastline. These days his exquisite home and holiday cottages at Cortijo de Los Piedaos are firmly moored in the rocky mountain landscape of the Alpujarras. By Fred and Arpi Shively.

On a warm winter afternoon in Andalucia's mountainous interior, Los Piedaos and it satellite casitas lie cool and white on their tawny hilltop as sunlight crashes against the rocks below and a heat haze blurs the line of the encircling mountains.

It's an uncompromising landlocked setting for English architect David Dry, a keen sailor who at 40 designed his own ocean-going yacht and sailed away from his lucrative practice in the UK to explore new ways of living. This romantic pragmatism continues to shape Los Piedaos ("The Faithful"), the home he has been building and enhancing for the past 16 years.

Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright and by his first employer, the late Sir Hugh Casson, Los Piedaos embodies what David calls "organic architecture". "I think the way a building relates to the landscape is important, whether you are making a bold statement or blending in," he says, adding that some of today's cutting-edge building designs are primarily intellectual exercises. "I try to avoid kitsch and pastiche, and to respect the environment."

David and Dorothy (his second wife, who died of cancer in 1998) came to explore the almost virgin territory around Orgiva - recently celebrated by Chris Stewart in Driving over Lemons and Parrot in a Pear Tree - in the late 1980s, on the recommendation of a friend.

Shujata's eye for design isn't confined to interiors; it extends to the gardens and courtyards that link the house and its four holiday casitas.

The future site of Los Piedaos was a pile of ruins with one tumbledown cortijo, the home of an elderly lady who made do without water, sewer or cooking amenities. "There wasn't even a tree on this hill then, but we saw possibilities," says David. They bought the land in 1988 and moved into the house in 1990.

Back then, remembers David, obtaining planning permission was much easier than it is today. "You had to build single-storey, keep outer walls white and not use corrugated asbestos on the roof, but that was about it."

Before starting to build, David made extensive observations and sketches, absorbing the local vernacular and marrying it to contemporary concepts of "space" and "flow". "I generally begin with some sort of vision and then it's a spiral process; having an idea, then checking it against the practicalities until I arrive at a solution." Having designed stage sets and interiors, David placed great emphasis on framing views from the inside out, and on the relationship between rooms, even making models of the interiors to achieve just the layout he wanted.

Los Piedaos took shape with due respect for the environment. In addition to cavity walls and a roof with excellent insulation, energy-saving ideas include small windows on the north side of the house for winter warmth and larger areas of glass to the south, in rooms more often used in summer.

Cool air is designed to funnel through the building, avoiding the use of air conditioning in all but extreme conditions. Traditional flat roofs are painted white to reflect sunlight, and solar panels heat the water. Bathroom wastewater flows out to irrigate the land. Fringed with oleander, pomegranate and pine trees, the swimming pool curves like an artist's palette, and their environmental concerns continue below the surface: "We installed a copper/silver purification system that does away with the need for chlorine," says David.

Given the Andalucian climate, David has also created several outdoor rooms leading from the house - places to sit and eat, to catch breezy shade on summer afternoons or to seek out the sun on the Alpujarra's chilly winter mornings.

With an architect as owner it's no surprise that Los Piedaos has changed continually, almost doubling its living space since the early days. However, David is keen to point out that Shujata, who he met in 2001 and recently married, has provided much of the inspiration and ideas for its current ambience.

"It was very much a man's and an architect's home when I first arrived," says Shujata. "I wanted to make it more functional and, at the same time, more feminine and playful." In addition to remodelling the kitchen, she's achieved this transformation with a mix of traditional and modern furniture, interesting textiles, and richly painted walls. The effect is at once traditional yet surprising, peaceful yet vibrant.

Books are everywhere, an instant snapshot of this couple's literary and artistic passions. Colourful, contemporary art jostles for wall space with black and white photography and antique silk hangings. In the dressing room, off the master bedroom, a copper handbasin housed in a dark chestnut table glows red-gold in the muted light from the window. The bathroom with its sunken bath has French windows leading to a jasmine-scented terrace.

The bedroom ceiling is beamed and richly tiled in a traditional pattern with handmade tiles. The window in Shujata's office and therapy room (she is a qualified psychotherapist) has a carved, antique frame from a house in Rajastan, India - a birthday gift from David.

Shujata's eye for design isn't confined to the interiors; it extends to the gardens and courtyards that link the house and its four holiday casitas. Her vision is flowering with the help of local landscape gardeners Sebastian and Severine Bano, who are also passionate botanists. To established plants including eucalyptus, oleander, bougainvillea and lavender, Shujata is adding more colourful flowers and textured leaves such as cordyline palms, orchids and mother-in-law's tongue.

The main group of three casitas, which can sleep a total of 12 guests, are approached down winding paths of orange and lemon trees, pistachio and pomegranate. The whitewashed and beamed properties, each with its unique layout and character, are designed for peace and privacy.

From the roof terrace of Los Palomas you get 360 degree views of three mountain ranges: the Sierra Nevada, Sierra Lujar and the Contraviesa. A fourth casita next to the main house is almost complete; specially adapted for guests who have mobility problems and need wheelchair access, La Rama will offer accommodation for four with its own separate pool.

Notwithstanding David's love for the sea, he appears to have taken to dry land with fervour. As he and Shujata enthusiastically outline their plans to expand and enhance Los Piedaos, you sense their joy at being anchored in this dramatic landscape for many years to come.