A renovated Andalusian farmhouse honors tradition and craft in Nerja
La Molineta, the renovated 17th century mill that once churned out sugar, flour and paper in Nerja retains its magnificent rustic charm.
Beautiful pottery and rugs decorate rooms, kitchen, and hallways in this rustic Andalusian cortijo estate.
La Molineta is a classic southern cortijo, a traditional rural Spanish estate that includes a residence, farmland, barns, mill, and grazing pastures for the animals. Known by different names across the peninsula, the architecture of the cortijo differs region to region.
In Mallorca, it is the traditional possessió built with the local marés sandstone that gives the villas a characteristic ochre hue. Galicia boasts the pazo with its lush grounds, chapel and hórreo, a type of raised granary that sits on tall stone pillars, away from rodents and the unremitting humidity of the soil in a land where rain and air often feel like one and the same.
Cataluña’s famed masía, a secluded stone structure that dominates the unspoiled landscape of the interior, features stone entrances, heavy walls and small windows to insulate from the northern cold.
In Andalucía, however, the cortijo enjoys wide windows and doors thrown open to the sun.
Limewashed exterior walls keep these homes cooler in the summer and give the sprawling estate the look of a white haven amid the rugged Andalusian landscape.
Based on the traditional Roman villa, these estates always feature a central courtyard.
Here in La Molineta, the owners set up a simple table with rustic traditional Andalusian rush chairs of hand-painted plates. We can spy a a minimalist version of the Granada Ceramic Plate as well as the Estornino Plate in green.
Above a pergola covered in trumpet vines gives respite from the Mediterranean sun. But, we won’t complain too much about it since it is also the main source of sustenance of the green rolling hills we see all around.
Painted in a vivid green over white glaze, this wide-rimmed plate bears our most emblematic motif: granada or pomegranate.
According to some historians, the Romans named the city of Granada after the Latin granatum or pomegranate, a fruit-bearing tree abundant in the area. Others credit the phonetic evolution of the Arabic "gar-anat," meaning 'hill of pilgrims.'
The pomegranate grows well in arid conditions. Its tough skin protects it from drying, making it a perfect survival food that could feed caravans traveling long journeys.
The resilient fruit tree may have been a staple for the desert people who conquered Andalucía in the 8th century.
Now abundant in the region, the pomegranate has become an enduring symbol of Granada’s culture. Fajalauza ceramics pay homage to that heritage with myriad variations in design.
Love the Granada motif? Find it on plates, fuentes, or lebrillos.
Production Lead Time: Kindly note, while we do hold some stock, many of our items are made to order. If out of stock, the production lead time is 4-6 weeks. For updates on current availability, please contact hello@casapletorica.com.
And thank heavens for the water that flows from Sierra Almijara that fills the reservoirs and the in-ground pool, a precious reprieve from the heat. Rugged terracotta slabs in the style of Ondas tile pave the unvarnished pool deck while hand-painted tiles decorate the edge under the square coping.
Here in the pueblos blancos of Cádiz and Málaga, climate shapes architectural heritage. Using limestone, Arab and Maghrebi settlers of the Andalusi empire whitewashed the exteriors to reflect sunlight and thermally isolate interiors.
Our Ondas hand-painted ceramic tile is suited for interior and exterior decorations. Handmade in Spain, these tiles feature intricate patterns reminiscent of traditional Hispano-Arab designs.
Perfect for kitchen backsplash, kitchen floors, bathroom walls, patio floors, stairs and fireplaces.
Minimum order: 1/2 square meter
15 × 15 cm: 23 pieces
Colors available: We offer about 18 different colors including our traditional blue, green, purple, and yellow. To order a different color other than the one listed, please get in touch.
Production Lead Time: Kindly note, while we do hold some stock, many of our items are made to order. If out of stock, the production lead time is 4-6 weeks. For updates on current availability, please contact hello@casapletorica.com.
The fight against the unremitting summer heat has also led to clever innovations in the with the home. In the bedrooms, cool terracotta tiles sheath the bed frames.
We spot our Almenilla border tile and smooth solid white tiles. Topped with a row of border tiles featuring a merlon design that recalls crenelated walls of fortified buildings, this cool bed frame wicks away the lingering heat of the day.
Similar to the terracotta bed frames, masonry banquettes in the grand sitting room and elsewhere in the house provide seating areas built with thermal comfort in mind.
In keeping with its Hispano-Arab decorative style, the adjoining bathroom features a similar more Almenilla tile, now in full splendor across the wainscot and along the edge of the bathtub.
Perhaps one of the most ubiquitous elements in Moorish architecture, we find this merlon pattern in brick form along the heavy fortified walls of defensive towers, atop the the Kasbah Mosque in Marrakech and within intricate azulejo mosaics in the Sala de las Dos Hermanas in the Alhambra.
Our Almenilla hand-painted ceramic tile is suited for interior and exterior decorations. Handmade in Spain, these tiles feature intricate patterns reminiscent of traditional Hispano-Arab designs.
Perfect for kitchen backsplash, kitchen floors, bathroom walls, patio floors, stairs and fireplaces.
Minimum order: 1 lineal meter:
7× 23 cm: 5 pieces
Colors available: We offer about 18 different colors including our traditional blue, green, purple, and yellow. To order a different color other than the one listed, please get in touch.
Production Lead Time: Kindly note, while we do hold some stock, many of our items are made to order. If out of stock, the production lead time is 4-6 weeks. For updates on current availability, please contact hello@casapletorica.com.
Elsewhere in the bathroom, other elements underscore the Hispano-Arab essense of the home. Tall Granada-style tumblers with a bird motif sits on the edge of the sink and bamboo and pine ceiling further insulates the room from the hot climate.
A gentle renovation undertaken in the 1990s updated the interiors while honoring the integrity of the original structures. In the sitting room, the owners replaced the terracotta tiles of the roof and floor yet other features remain intact.
This airy room is at once grand and rustic. Divided into several neat seating areas, the space feels like a meeting place rather than one simple living room.
On one side, a long dining table accommodates ten for a feast on one side. A built-in masonry banquette welcomes comfortable lounging on the other side. A few rocking chairs decked out in checked green print provide movable seating, perfect for the constant interplay of conversations a la Berlanga that is typically of Spanish sobremesa.
An Andalusian lebrillo serving bowl showing a floral motif sits tucked on the built-in shelf. A large rustic lebrillo decorates the simple coffee table.
Rama Lebrillo in Green with Aged Finish is a terracotta basin with an aged effect. This technique gives the ceramic bowl the distinctive look of fine antique pottery.
Hand-painted in green, this flat-bottomed vessel features the flamboyant pomegranate flower in the center. The lebrillo's walls are decorated from base to rim in an abstract motif.
Once a venerable household washing basin, this decorative bowl lends a rustic flair to homes and gardens.
Lebrillo Wall Mounts for hanging available here.
Production Lead Time: Kindly note, while we do hold some stock, many of our items are made to order. If out of stock, the production lead time is 4-6 weeks. For updates on current availability, please contact hello@casapletorica.com.
Beautiful pottery and rugs decorate rooms, kitchen, and hallways. Stripped and floral prints in muted blue shroud the cushions and pillows. Stained olive-wood furniture and handsome wall hangings imbue the home with warmth.
The lebrillo bowl below with an accentuated conical shape is characteristic of the traditional pottery of the peninsula.
Though artisans in central Spain made a similar shape, they’ve imbued the designs with their own local flavor.
We can see the lovely rings in the frustum of the lebrillo, a testament to the potter’s wheel. The soft sandy hue of the local clay puts the vibrant ornamentation — splotches of ochre, maroon, green, and yellow— in sharp relief.
Unlike most Andalusian pottery where a profusion of elements decorate the bowl from edge to edge, Castilian ceramics often delineates each section of the bowl or plate.
Below, concentric circles highlight the rim and center of a design that recalls an eddy or “remolino” of leaves swirling in a ripping Castilian gale. Known for its windmills, this region a centenarian pottery tradition that boasts a variety of unique styles.
The fustrum-shaped lebrillo bowl is a quintessential Mediterranean ceramic basin, with regional variations in style and shape.
This classic Castilian lebrillo has steeper walls than the Andalusian lebrillo. And, unlike the horror vacui style of decoration common to Andalusian potters, Castilian artisans delineate the decorated surface into neat sections bound by concentric circles.
Here, the pattern is a whirlpool or “remolino” of vegetal motifs and quickly-sketched volutes painted with a thick brush. The flowers appear to swirl around the concentric circles that draw the eye toward the center, imbuing the composition with a sense movement.
Bathed in a fully transparent glaze that reveals the fine grain of the sandy clay beneath, this decorative bowl bears the marks of its provenance.
This particular Castilian motif was en vogue between the 16th and 18th centuries, before the introduction of plastics, when no household could afford to do without a good selection of pottery.
Hand-painted in blue, green, honey-yellow, and brown-black, the traditional color palette prevails though time has softened the patina.
Dimensions: 34 cm in diameter
Hanging your decorative plate: A small incision in the foot of the plate allows for hanging. Our heavier items like lebrillos require a wall mount.
Kindly Note: Small chips and discolouration are part of the charm of handmade antique and vintage pottery. For questions or specific sourcing requests, please get in touch.
See our traditional Spanish tiles for more. For more lebrillo designs, custom size or color, please get in touch.
