Adrian Day and his partner Mark Florko can’t seem to stop themselves from taking on big projects, like their current quirky home near Ronda

When Adrian Day sold his estate agency in Bath and headed off to southern Spain with partner Mark Florko, the idea was to take life a little easier: long lunches, siestas, sundowners on the terrace – that sort of thing. The last thing the couple planned when they moved to Ronda was embarking on a series of restorations, but, four years later, they are finally close to finishing work on the third property they have made over since leaving Britain.

Adrian and photographer Mark had a property in the El Chorro region, inland from Malaga, a few years ago but sold that before they moved out to Andalucía full time.

“It was a really nice area but too influenced by the British expat scene, says Adrian. “We had a good look round and kept going further and further west until we reached the Ronda area. We found a house in the town which we’ve been periodically restoring, but what took up most of our time was country property.”

Their first foray into the campo, as the countryside is known, was a small farmhouse close to Zahara de la Sierra and overlooking the pantano (reservoir).

“We really enjoyed that. It took us more than a year to finish and as soon as we did we wanted something bigger and more challenging – and somewhere we could really call home,” says Adrian. They sold the little house by the lake and eventually found Cortijo Cuevas del Marqués, a grand country farmhouse near Ronda la Vieja, the site of a Roman city a few miles outside the modern town.

The house is huge – more than 300 square metres of accommodation in the main building, plus a guest cottage within a vast, cobbled patio, and a communal living area tucked alongside too. It’s set in 40,000 square metres of rolling arable land, and with its own arroyo (ravine), which provides good water.

As the visitor drives through the gateway, the house is obviously a little different from the average Andalusian cortijo. Many similar grand estate houses, which litter the campo, are still lived in but are looking a little worse for wear. Cortijo Cuevas del Marqués is immaculately clean with splashes of colour from flower planters and an overall effect of discreet good taste.

The house is entered through an arched doorway-come bell tower. The original bell, which was used to call workers in from the fields for meals for at least 300 years, is still in place. Inside, the focus is on the carefully restored antique wooden windows and doors, and the original rejas (bars) that protect them. Most of these doors were brought in by Adrian and Mark.

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