Paredes Pedrosa

Two Houses in Oropesa

Oropesa is known for its castle, built in 1402 and formerly the residence of the Toledo family of nobles. One of them built an arcade to link the castle with Nuestra Señora de la Asunción Church, where the houses are placed incrusted in the ancient walls.

The project transforms the interior spaces into two houses, for brother and sister that share one single long patio, open to the view of the 16th Century church tower. The façade could not be modified, due to heritage protection, thus the new patio orders the two constructions and gives natural light to both houses.

Inside the houses, the ancient brick and stonewalls, built with the traditional local rigging, were painted in white. The new staircases are built with steel sheet. Also, the roofs were fully disassembled, restored and re‑built one meter higher, maintaining the wooden structure, to create a space under the roof.

In the patio the old water well is maintained and both the pavement and the lower part of the damaged ancient walls, were covered with natural brick as the unique new material.