La Merced

La Merced is a set of new villas in Calpe where a glass façade faces your own pool. Above the neighbouring rooftops rises the Peñón de Ifach. A house like this is bought for the life it gives: plenty of light, a garden, water at the door and the scenery that makes people choose this coast. It can be your home all year or your summer retreat.

The Peñón de Ifach beyond the terrace

The plots sit on corners in the La Merced area, with private houses and gardens next door. From the upper terrace Calpe lies in front of you, with its towers by the water and the Peñón. That was photographed from the walls already built, not drawn. The beach is under two kilometres away. I show every detached home in Calpe on houses in Calpe.

Glass, stone and wood

The garden side of the house is almost all glass, from floor to ceiling. The living room and bedrooms fill with light all day. Side walls are smooth concrete, terrace ceilings are finished in wood and the plot rests on low natural stone walls. Beyond the windows lie a long pool and lawn, and the living room seems to carry on into the garden.

Three levels in 13B

On the ground floor the living room and kitchen open onto covered terraces by the water. A guest bedroom with en suite sits here too, handy for parents. The upper floor holds two further bedrooms, both en suite. A basement garage takes the car off the plot, leaving nothing but garden around the house.

Next door, villa 12B has a double-height living room. If you love high ceilings and the feel of a grand hall, it is worth viewing both.

What La Merced costs

The 9.30 m² basement (stairs and a plant room) pulls the price per metre down. The 32.45 m² garage and store room is not in the area. Counting the house with terraces but leaving the basement out gives €4735 a metre.

This figure buys a new home with a pool, a plot of over a thousand square metres and the Peñón at breakfast. VAT and purchase costs are added on top. Detached homes with gardens in other towns along the coast are in house rather than apartment.

Who will love it

Someone settling on the Costa Blanca for good who wants a house with personality, not a catalogue villa. Someone after a summer base by the sea: pool, garden and a terrace facing the Peñón beat any hotel. And anyone drawn to architecture in glass and stone and a house that is always bright.

When it is not the right fit

If you want the keys soon: building work on the villas is still going on. Or if you would rather have an apartment with a communal garden and a concierge: here the house, garden and pool are entirely in your hands.