Riu raus are the distinctive covered terraces found across the northern Costa Blanca, built for drying grapes and almonds after harvest. Long, low, open-fronted structures with a single pitch roof and stone walls: functional, beautiful, and deeply tied to the agricultural economy of the region.
This conversion transformed that working structure into a primary residence, keeping the long open arcade and its deep shade as the defining element of the home. The agricultural past is present in every stone, in every proportioned arch. Heritage made habitable: nothing disguised, everything respected.
Riu raus were built across the Marina Alta between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, at the height of the region's raisin trade. The covered arcade provided the combination of shade and airflow needed to dry the Muscat grapes that made Jávea's raisins famous across Europe.
By the mid-twentieth century, the raisin trade had collapsed and most riu raus were abandoned. Some were demolished. Others survived in a state of careful neglect. This one was found largely intact, its stone walls solid, its original roof tiles still in place.
The long open arcade
and its deep shade:
the defining element.
The conversion introduced a series of internal divisions within the existing structure, creating sleeping, bathing, and living spaces without touching the exterior envelope. The original stone walls became the walls of every room. The original roof structure was insulated from within, its timber visible from below.
