Barcelona is that city that, just when you think you have it mapped from top to bottom, jumps out at you with something new. Well, technically it is not in the capital, but in that privileged backyard that is Canyet, in Badalona. There, among the greenery of the Serralada de Marina and the echo of the Mediterranean, hides El Castellet, a property that seems to be taken from a romantic novel of the nineteenth century and has just landed in the real estate portals looking for a new owner.
It is not usual to wake up and see that someone has put the “for sale” sign on a fortress, but the real estate market in the outskirts of Barcelona always has an ace up its sleeve. This rustic property is not the typical concrete block, we are talking about an area of more than 25,000 square meters where time seems to have stopped between stone pines and irrigated orchards. The most curious thing is that, in spite of this sensation of monastic isolation, civilization, specifically the Nus de la Trinita, is only five minutes away by car.
A neo-Arabic whim among the vineyards of Alella.
What really makes you stop and look at the photos on Idealista is its architecture. El Castellet is not a typical farmhouse, but a late neo-Arabic style tower built between the 20s and 30s. Its facades and rooms retain that exotic air that so much liked the bourgeoisie of the time, adding more than 240 square meters of habitable history. But the pack does not end in the main tower: the property includes a farmhouse with its own old wine cellar, reminding us that here, before selfies, wine was made.
In fact, one of the great assets of the estate is its unirrigated vineyard with Denomination of Origin Alella. Owning a piece of one of the smallest and most exclusive D.O. in Catalonia is a luxury that few can say they have in their garden. The estate, moreover, is practically self-sufficient in terms of hydration, as it has two wells and irrigation ponds, a detail not inconsiderable in these times of water management.
An investment to live (very) quietly
Obviously, buying a castle is not like renting a studio in Gràcia. The starting price has been set at 1,499,000 euros, a figure that, although imposing, is in the range of what a luxury apartment in the Eixample costs, but with the added bonus of having your own private forest. Being listed as an area of traditional interest, the regulations protect the environment, ensuring that no skyscraper will take away your sea views or the peace of the mountain.
For those looking for a life project linked to the land, the recovery of traditional crops or simply want to play at being feudal lords with fiber optics and fast connection to the B-20, El Castellet is, right now, the rarest and most coveted piece of the metropolitan board. It is the opportunity to live in a Badalona that doesn’t look like Badalona, looking at Barcelona from just the right distance to miss it.
If you dare to go, not even to see it, you can take the opportunity to make a gastronomic getaway through Badalona to enjoy what could be your future city.
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