When a British couple traded city life in London for the rolling hills of Girona, they found something far more meaningful than a change of scenery. Their new home, Mas Cadalt, sits in the heart of Serrat de la Cadalt, where time moves slower and every wall has a story.
The project, by Fran Silvestre Arquitectos, began with a simple question: Is it possible to restore a way of life with the same delicacy used to recover an ancient object?
Rather than replacing what was there, the architects chose to understand it, intervening only where necessary. The goal wasn’t reinvention but renewal, preserving the spirit of the original farmhouse while bringing it into the present.
A New Life Among the Trees
After years in the bustle of London, the owners wanted calm, light, and connection to nature. They found it in Girona, surrounded by trees and silence. Here, their professional lives continued as before, but now from a home with mountain views instead of city skylines.
The design respected the original scale of each room, assigning every space a new purpose. The entrance level now houses a kitchen that rises into the triple height of the old tower and a living room that opens to views of the Sierra de la Cadalt.
Upstairs, two bedrooms offer quiet retreat, while below, what was once an animal shelter has become a multipurpose space. Even the adjacent farm shed found new life, transformed into a garage with a studio above, where designer Terence Woodgate now works.
Tradition Reimagined
The renovation kept the bones of the original farmhouse intact. Thick limestone walls, once held together by lime mortar, were rebuilt and strengthened, their ashlar corners and lintels carefully restored for structural precision.
Inside, the architects revived an old finishing method, using lime and sand plaster topped with slaked lime, known for its soft light and easy upkeep. A new layer of cork insulation quietly brings the house into the 21st century, while a second interior “skin” improves brightness and hides modern systems.
A Self-Sufficient Sanctuary
Mas Cadalt doesn’t just look sustainable, it lives it. Photovoltaic panels power the home, supported by batteries and a network of custom-built cisterns that collect and store water. One of those cisterns now doubles as a cooling pool on hot days.
The surrounding land, some of it cultivated, provides food for the couple who live here. Electricity, water, even produce, everything the home needs is generated right on site. It’s a quiet independence that feels both luxurious and humble, a reminder that true comfort often comes from simplicity.
A Quiet Place to Pause
Even the pool at Mas Cadalt carries the same thoughtful restraint as the rest of the home. Once a working cistern used to store water, it has been carefully transformed into a serene place to cool off and reflect. Set against the backdrop of olive trees and stone walls, the pool feels as if it has always belonged there. Its calm surface mirrors the landscape, blurring the line between architecture and nature, a quiet reminder that sustainability can also be deeply beautiful.
Between Architecture and Design
Inside Mas Cadalt, every detail feels deliberate. Electrical outlets sit flush against the walls. Construction joints meet neatly at a single point. Every choice reveals a respect for precision and for honesty about the home’s own time.
Natural light moves softly across pale surfaces, shifting with the hours and revealing the quiet texture of stone and lime. The palette is restrained, warm limestone underfoot, white plaster walls, and timber accents that add subtle warmth without distraction. Furniture pieces are kept minimal, designed to disappear into the architecture rather than compete with it.
It’s a space suspended between architecture and product design, where nothing is excessive and everything feels considered. The dialogue between old and new feels natural, like two eras in quiet conversation.
Restoring More Than a Home
There’s a saying that when you start a creative project, everyone you’ve ever known, your family, friends, fears, and hopes, joins you at the table. But if you stay patient, they all leave, and eventually, so do you.
Fran Silvestre Arquitectos approached Mas Cadalt in that same spirit. With time, care, and restraint, they restored what was damaged and added only what was missing. The result is a home that doesn’t shout about its beauty, it simply exists, quietly complete.