This is a historic moment - the first time the casita has had windows in the downstairs level.
For some months if not years now, we have been considering how to achieve this fete without spoiling what is a very old, traditional and treasured Canarian house. In the age that it was built, no country house had windows downstairs. This was because the downstairs with its soil floor was used as a store for potatoes, beans and so on or as a workshop. As it happens, the downstairs of la casita was a carpenter's workshop.
Of course the store did not need or indeed want light and, so we are told, much the same went for the workshop - when there wasn't enough light, they stopped work.
Most old houses were however built on one level and you will see many of these dotted about the countryside in Garafia. Some have the flat French type roof tiles
while others, like the Casita, have the much older, round Arabic type. Before then, the roofs were of naked wood and before that .... caves.
It is not so common to see old, two-storied houses such as la Casita. As you may know, or realise, the downstairs level of la casita is built into the land. That means that essentially a 'hole' or flat area had to be dug initially before they could even begin to build the house. That fact amazes me. The work involved - and all by hand - was immense.
This type of house is called 'casa de arrimo' or 'leaning house' because it leans into the land. I like to think of it not so much as leaning but rather 'resting.'
So how could we bring in natural light without spoiling the look of the outside of the house? We noticed that other houses that have had glass put in the door retrospectively have done it by attaching glass to the outside of the door, and having wood at the back for shutters. This is fine, except the wood is backed by glass and the window doesn't open - we were looking for a different method.
Our resident genius (David) came up with an alternative solution which you might be able to follow from the photo. The top panel of wood was taken out and replaced by a window. The original panel was sat into a new frame attached to the door and this can slide up and down according to wether you want light in or not. Clever, huh? and the window opens too.
What a happy little house we have.
