The beauty of decay

In Librilla, a small town some twenty kilometers south west from Murcia, I stumbled upon Casa Mendez. Built at the beginning of the twentieth century it now stands in ruin. A waste, because it is still clear that this villa was designed and built with much eye for proportion and style. But at the same time I have to admit that ruins, in any

form, have always had a pull on me, more than any well preserved palace could ever have. It may be caused by having watched too many cartoons in my youth, resulting in some form of scoobydoo-ification. Ruins convey the mysterious, the lost, past greatness, questions about what happened to former residents, owners, and why, especially when the building still shows its former glory, they are left to rot. In any case, if you are looking for a house in Spain to revive and have some money to spare, I could recommend Casa Mendez. Murcia is a stone's throw from Librilla and the weather is, well, Spanish. But please, don't fix it too much, because it is actually quite perfect the way it is.