A Castle in Spain: A Mountain Ruin and an Impossible Dream
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2.7 • 3 Ratings
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- £6.99
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- £6.99
Publisher Description
Walking in the Pyrenees, 20 years ago, Matthew Parris and his sister came upon a magnificent medieval house. It had crests and a date, 1559, chiselled into the stone: its walls and foundations were intact but the ancient oak ridge timber supporting the roof had split and was ready to collapse into the rotten floors beneath. Renovation would be an epic undertaking, a massive investment of time, money, and emotion. And, the locals warned, nobody ever left L'Avenc with any money.
A few years ago, Matthew (with his family's help) went back and bought the place. Astonishing and arguably idiotic, his decision resulted in a phenomenal amount of hard work, and this hugely enjoyable book. Inspirational, instructional, and utterly irresistible, this is the story of one man's dream to turn a forgotten ruin into his very own Castle in Spain.
Customer Reviews
A Castle in Spain
This book ebbed and flowed backwards and forwards through time in a sometimes engaging and sometimes annoying manner. Matthew Parris, like a politician, never quite pins his colours to the mast of spearheading the renovation of an ancient Catalan building, but is the nominated commentator of a family project. Unfortunately for me the intensely descriptive language didn't quite work in audio and I longed for further photographs, even a map. Every hour or so I squinted at the cover photo for inspiration. A Castle in Spain would be good to read whilst in the area itself and is fairly easy on the ear, however it works as a series of articles around the restoration of an ancient farmhouse rather than a documentary account.
Walking through my mind
Matthew Parris tells the true story of restoring a much loved ruin to its former glory. He entwines the seven year project with the history of his extended family, a brother in law with a fetish for a digger and family bereavement. It’s an engaging encounter with a part of Spain far off the beaten track.