While all the rooms in the house encompass the view, the garden by contrast is very intimate. One of the owners of Los Buhos is Japanese and he has created an oriental garden, incorporating some Mediterranean ideas in a very clever way.

The basic grey rock outcrop is one of the main components of a Japanese garden. The site was perfect for this application. The steps and pathways wind around the rocks. A second basic of an oriental garden is water. This is where Moorish culture, dominant in Andalucia for 700 years, is in harmony with the Japanese viewpoint. Water has a relaxing and cooling effect and here a cascade has been built behind the pool; there is a little waterfall and in line with Moorish tradition, a fountain.

 

There is decorative stonework and brickwork and a pebble garden but the centrepiece is a covered walkway incorporating arches and pillars with a latticework roof. The light falling through the wooden mesh creates marvellous dappled shadows on the plants and floor, a typically Japanese effect. The plants are largely Mediterranean with of course, lots of decorative bamboo. Next to the terrace is a shishi odoshi, a charming rendition of a bird scarer.

There are many areas in this garden to sit and ponder, in sun or shade and to feel at one with nature.

The Terraces.....

 

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Fact file The garden has an automatic watering system worked on a time clock and is illuminated at night. There is a garage with automatic doors and an off-road parking space.