A century ago, in the 20's (the happy ones, yes), Valladolid It was a summer destination for some of the most important intellectuals on the Spanish scene, such as Manuel Azaña and Pérez de Ayala. Also from philosopher and essayist Ortega y Gasset, who found peace and quiet in the Castilleja preserve, a farm of more than two hundred hectares between Mayorga and Valderas, which was owned by his son-in-law, José Varela.
Today it is possible to buy that house, through whose gardens the Madrilenian, author of Meditations on Quixote (1914), Spain invertebrate (1921) and The rebellion of the masses (1929), strolled. If you have five and a half million euros, of course.
The famous Spanish intellectual walked through the gardens of the estate.
It is sold by the writer's grandson and it is said that he was from this farm where Ortega y Gasset left for the electoral campaign of 1931, during the Second Republic, when he was elected deputy for León.
Also that it was the first place he set foot in Spain after his exile in Portugal (after having been exiled first in Paris, the Netherlands and Buenos Aires). And that, after that, he visited her every year, even during the last days of his life.
The fascinating manor house, surrounded by wonderful gardens, it has a swimming pool and a huge agricultural estate, in addition to nine rooms and eight bathrooms in 1,300 m2 built on 225 hectares of land.
It is the grandson of Ortega y Gasset who puts the property up for sale.
He also has two staff rooms and a modern self-contained apartment with its own wine cellar, multiple lounges, a dining room, and an impressive study or living room with a vaulted ceiling and arched windows.
As explained by The Singular Space, the real estate agency that manages the sale of this property, the farm is located in a strategic place since pre-Roman times. In the Middle Ages, it housed a defensive castle.
The swimming pool of the estate where Ortega y Gasset spent the summer.
Two and a half hours north of Madrid, its fertile agricultural lands are dotted with pine forests and crossed by the river Cea, from which you have a license to extract water, and along the legendary Camino de Santiago.
The previous owners had obtained hunting licenses and currently have hired a professional falconer as a gardener and a local gamekeeper. In addition to the main house, the estate houses a unique treasure: a Visigothic church from the 10th century, declared cultural heritage of Spain.
The beautiful spiral staircase of the property.
The Coto de Castilleja passed to the Ortega family between the 17th and 18th centuries. After renting it for a while, the family of José Varela put it into operation during the First World War.
He lived his greatest splendor in the years he was by the architect and agronomist José Varela Feijoo and Soledad Ortega, the daughter of Ortega y Gasset, and it was a meeting point for relevant personalities of the time, who stopped there on their way to their vacations in the north.
“The house is stately yet distinctive, with an exquisite array of architectural features,” the description continues. The living space is distributed over two main floors and a three-story tower, which are joined by an elegant spiral staircase with a wrought iron balustrade, whose steps once climbed the founder of the Revista de Occidente.
One of the bedrooms of the Coto de Castilleja.
The impressive ornamental garden is the work of the former owner, who he was an architect and worked together with a landscape designer to create it. The finishing touch? A large pool surrounded by a set of ancient trees.
Jose Ortega y Gasset in 1939.
Of course, it is about a very attractive property for those who like homes with history, but it can also be a farm with a lot of potential to return to in a group, or with guests (why not?), those summers in the sun in Valladolid.
Yes indeed, live up to the conversation of the ancient inhabitants It seems to us, perhaps, complicated. Inspiration will not be lacking.