The Mediterranean country house is anarchitectural tradition that unites Europeans beyond national borders and across social classes. The French maintain them in Provence, and the Spanish in Catalonia—where the name for such houses is mas—havens for city dwellers seeking downtime near the balmy coast. The rich have them and so do the not-so-rich, though the rich, of course, have bigger ones that can resemble elegant chateaus, while their middle-class neighbors are more likely to camp out in something closer to a farmhouse, a little more rustic and a lot more handmade.

The mas inherited by Josep Cruset and Encarna Rega in 2015 was “somewhere in the middle,” according to their architect, David Tapias Monné. It started out in 1933 as a single two-story masonry structure but was expanded into a compound over time by Josep’s late father, a watchmaker and all-around tinkerer, who, Tapias says, spent decades “welding, screwing, and growing all kinds of rooms, huts, shacks, sheds, and porches” on the property. “My first memories are of the country house in poor condition and doing a lot of maintenance just to be able to live there,” says Josep. “But the place had charm, with a garden, trees, and an orchard.”

Now it has plenty of neighbors, too. The Spanish city of Reus, where it’s located, has grown up around it, placing the mas in the middle of a desirable residential area—which is why the couple, who have a teenage daughter, decided to move there full-time from another part of the city. They asked Tapias if they should upgrade the old place or build something new. His answer: both.

Tapias developed a plan to renovate the existing 1,900-square-foot main building and complement it with a 1,500-square- foot addition, accommodating the owners’ request for a mostly single-story home they could still occupy as they grew older. The project came with a few advantages. The mas is in the center of a developed block with buildings as high as five stories surrounding it. It remains an oasis in that way, not visible from the street and accessible only through a narrow passageway.

"To minimize the impact of the new structure, we kept it lightweight, using CLT panels and slim steel posts." -David Tapias Monné, Architect

Tapias decided to let the tall neighbors act as buffers against wind and rain, which allowed the addition, consisting of a living area, a kitchen, a bathroom, and three bedrooms, to be made from lightweight materials. He used prefabricated panels of cross-lamented timber for just about everything—the exterior and interior walls, the ceiling, and the floor, with leftover pieces recycled into custom furnishings. The CLT panels, made of three engineered layers of spruce, are about three inches thick, and most were left exposed and unpainted.A few exterior walls were clad in cork for insulation. The family now uses the addition as their primary living space.

For the renovation of the existing mas, Tapias and his team demolished half of the first story’s ceiling, creating a small second-floor loft with a balcony. The remainder of the first story now has a 17-foot ceiling. They removed all of the mas’s original programmatic elements except a bathroom—“Kitchen gone, room dividers gone,” says Tapias—leaving a largely empty space that can be adapted to changing needs. (In the future, the existing mas may become a separate home for Josep and Encarna’s daughter.) There’s a new outdoor kitchen and shower just a few steps away, and another bedroom and bathroom in a free-standing guest apartment that was formerly a garage.

The couple believe the project honors their family history while moving the mas forward. Reus just happens to be the birthplace of revered Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí, providing both inspiration and a responsibility to respect design. “Creativity,” says Josep, “is part of who we are.”

Project Credits:

Architect: Aixopluc

General Contractor: Aurea Disseny

Carpentry: Fustes Borniquel

Structural Engineer: Angel Obiol

Civil Engineer: Josep Borrás

Engineer: Josep M. Delmuns