The House

The house has two stories.
The communal areas are located on the ground floor and include a living/dining room and a relaxation area with sofas, a television and a fireplace. The open floor plan creates a flow between the spacious, fully equipped kitchen, large breakfast bar and the rest of the communal areas while preserving the structural integrity of the building and offering both formal and informal dining options.
This floor has a common bathroom. An adjoining ground-level terrace makes this area a perfect place to relax and enjoy the surrounding nature during much of the year.
A staircase leads to the upper floor.
All the windows of the house have been fitted with mosquito screens.

The Kitchen

The history of the estate

At the end of the eighteenth century, The Balañà family of Figuerola del Camp began buying up small parcels of agricultural land just within the municipal boundaries of Cabra del Camp. In 1812, when the family had already acquired a considerable amount of farmland, Isidre Balañà purchased 15 additional “jornales” (a term used to refer to the amount of land a man could work in a day) in the same area situated at the foot of la Voltorera, the southernmost peak of the Sierra de la Cabarra. The farmhouse included in this estate was called Mas del Traça (or Mas Traces).

All this took place against the backdrop of the Peninsular Wars and the declaration of the first Spanish Constitution (popularly known as the “Pepa”) in Cadiz. The expulsion of Napoleon’s army from Catalonia was unfortunately followed by another long period of civil strife during which many of the men who had taken up arms against the French formed groups of roving bandits that pillaged rural communities. The onset of the Carlist Wars intensified the violence, making the early nineteenth century one of the least stable periods in local history. The towns and the surrounding countryside were forever the targets of either the armies of opposing political factions or bands of outlaws. The situation made travel between Figuerola and Cabra del Camp so dangerous that in August 1840 Anton Balañà (the son of Isidre Balañà) rented out the property to Jaume Rovira de Montagut, who became the first tenant farmer to live in the farmhouse and work the land surrounding it. It was at this point in time that the farmhouse, which had suffered damages during the prolonged conflicts, was reconstructed and additional land was acquired to ensure that the estate had the water supply necessary to be self-sufficient. The main crops cultivated on the property at that time were wheat, hazelnuts and grapes.

From that moment through the end of the twentieth century, the farmhouse was continually occupied. Although the house was later abandoned and fell into ruin, the farmland has always been under cultivation. It currently produces barley and almonds.

Mas del Traça has been faithfully handed down from generation to generation of the Balañà family. In 2012, the year that marked the 200th anniversary of Isidre Balañà’s original purchase of the estate, the family restored the farmhouse as a rental property so that holidaymakers could enjoy a bucolic holiday in the Catalan countryside.