and what you can do in really tiny gardens.
So we're here at a beautiful guest house
in the heart of the Lecrin Valley, called
Casa Aire. And this is the owner of the guest
house, Anne-Muriel.
Interviewee: Hello.
Rachel: Now this courtyard blew me away. I
mean it's just beautiful. What was it like
when you first arrived?
Interviewee: Well, this was a room full of
mattresses and this was another room with
a fireplace at the end.
Rachel: So it had a roof to it?
Interviewee: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Now this
was actually part of the big house. So that
was three-story high and that was one story
with a fireplace.
Rachel: So it was quite a big decision then
to make an outside space when you know you're
taking a room away?
Interviewee: Well actually the good thing
was that I went back to the original shape
of the house cause these walls are, are you
know obviously original and they are outside
wall. So that was quite good. But that's
why I've kept the windows, cause they were
windows from the original.
Rachel: Oh so that the sort of archway-
Interview: No that's new cause the walls
collapsed, but these two windows were there
from, from the rooms that it was before.
Rachel: Right, beautiful. And it feels like
it has a very Moroccan sort of influence.
Interviewee: Well, I wanted to move to Morocco,
but I couldn't do that so and then I wanted
to do house like Moroccan way, but the house
was too Spanish. So the only place where I
could get a bit of Morocco in was on the outside.
We only live about thirty minutes from the
Alhambra so it kind of makes sense.
Rachel: Yeah, well it ties in beautifully.
So, are you one of these annoying people that
can visualize how something is going to look
or did you sketch up on paper? How did you
go around, about planning it?
Interviewee: Do you mind being that I am annoying?
Rachel: Yes. There are lots of annoying people.
I am not one of them. I have to put everything
on paper.
Interviewee: No, no I kind of-
Rachel: So you can visualize?
Interviewee: I visualized it.
Rachel: You're very lucky. Very few people
can do that. You know the mirror I think is
a stroke of genius. I mean it just doubles
the space you've got here.
Interviewee: And also I've asked them, that
was my big, it's a bit of extravagant. And
then I wanted Roman arch, but that was the
Romanian builders idea of a Roman arch. So
it's all Romanesque anyway. But, no the,
I had to put it at an angle so that when you
stand in front of it, you don't see yourself.
Rachel: That's the genius part. Because-
Interviewee: But you reflect the jar. And
the vegetation.
Rachel: You know when I suggest mirrors to
people in sort of the Successful Garden Design
blog, the first thing they do, and they put
it and it faces the house. Well there is not
the point in reflecting, I mean this house is
very pretty, but the average house in the
The United Kingdom, they're not that attractive
to look at so it's really critical to put
that angle in. Now that wall is a little bit
an angle, but you put a little bit more of
an angle there.
Interviewee: Yeah for a degree. But basically
the idea it was to reflect the jar.
Rachel: And where did you get that jar?
Interviewee: They were in the house.
Rachel: It was, really?
Interviewee: They were both. Yes. They're,
they're wine jars.
Rachel: Wine jars?n Wow.
Interviewee: Yes.
Rachel: That's a party. And the other clever
the thing I like that you've done with this
the garden is that you've created the privacy
in the pool area, but you've done it in
a way that you haven't blocked the view.
So you've made the best use of space, which
is really good.
Interviewee: Well, I need to trim that lavender.
And also keep plants, I try to keep plants
in that so there are not so many colors. So
it's a lot of blues, a lot of red to go
with the walls or not. And, and a bit of orange
and yellow here and there, but on the whole
the colors are fairly sort of similar. I think,
you know, if you have the small space, you
can't have too many colors. Otherwise it
looks garish. And it's too, it takes, it
detracts from, you know the general impact,
if your eyes are drawn to too many things.
Rachel: But also you haven't been scared
to do big things in a small space. You know
that mirror is big, this pot is big and that
works well, that's another thing. And we
go
Interviewee: And we go
Rachel: That's the neighbors.
Interviewee: No he's selling fish.
Rachel: Oh he's selling fish. Oh that's
what that is. Oh well, it makes a change from
the ice cream man. So yeah, that's something
that often scares people having big plants.
They think everything's gotta be tiny but
it hasn't. You can have big dramatic plants,
big dramatic features.
Interviewee: It's just as long as you don't
have too many.
Rachel: Yes, you've got it. Absolutely.
You weren't a garden designer in a previous
life, were you?
Interviewee: No, I think I was an Egyptian
lizard, but that's a different story.
Rachel: That mosaic on the floor that I've
just spied. Was that an original feature?
Or you had that put in?
Interviewee: I had that put in. It comes from
Syria and got it on eBay.
Rachel: Really? Wow. It's beautiful.
Interviewee: It's marble and well again
maybe it's one too many things, but I love
mosaic so I had to put it somewhere.
Rachel: So now I found this beautiful guest
house. How many bedrooms do you have here?
Interviewee: Six.
Rachel: Six bedrooms. And they're absolutely
wonderful. And you've done them up, you've
completely guttered the house and done it
up.
Interviewee: Not guttered, I've kept the
structure, but I've redone everything.
Rachel: You've redone everything, but it's
a very traditional style that you've kept.
It's just beautiful. So now I found you
on trip advisor, but is there a website people
can send you too? Or is there a best place
that people can go on?
Interviewee: Well I've got my own, this
the little house has got its own website.
Rachel: Would you like to give the website's
address?
Interviewee: I would, it's a bit long-winded,
but
Rachel: We'll link to it on our video as
well. Thank you so much for telling us about
your beautiful courtyard.
Interviewee: Well, thank you for coming to
stay and liked it so much.
Rachel: Yes, I do. I love it.
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