Can Buch

A 17th-century farmhouse in the Vall de Llémena

Can Buch is a farmhouse dating from 1621, restored in 2020 with stone, clay, lime and ceramics, at La Barroca, in the municipality of Sant Aniol de Finestres, on the boundary between the Garrotxa and the Gironès. It runs on renewable energy and has an organic permaculture vegetable garden, which you can visit whenever you like and which supplies a good part of the kitchen. Instead of a swimming pool there is a 14-metre natural pond, purified with plants, with no chlorine or salt, with views of the Rocacorba range. There are cats, dogs, hens and lambs: in the afternoon you can help feed them and collect the eggs for breakfast.

The rooms

There are twelve rooms and an apartment, each named after a tree, a bird or a corner of the estate. The walls are earth and stone, the ceilings Catalan vaults, the floors La Bisbal tiles and the furniture solid wood from the Montseny; they have central heating, air conditioning and wifi. Several admit an extra bed and some, such as Els Bens, on the ground floor with its own entrance, sleep four. La Cabana is a two-storey apartment a few metres from the house, with a kitchen, a living room with a fireplace and two bedrooms with a south-facing balcony, for four or five people.

The spa is a stone hammam with a hot-water pool, jacuzzi and steam bath, booked by the hour and used by only one room at a time; children may enter.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Breakfast is included: a buffet from 9:00 to 10:00 with the house sourdough bread, jams, honey from their bees, local cured meats and cheeses and homemade yoghurts. At midday they serve lunch at the table or in a picnic basket (order it before 13:00). Dinner, from 20:30 to 22:00, is a signature menu of Catalan cooking with produce from the garden; there is always a vegan dish and gluten-free options, and under-14s have their own menu.

Getting there

You need a car. Arrive at Sant Esteve de Llémena, take the paved road signposted to La Barroca and follow the wooden Can Buch signs for about 6 km, around ten minutes. Parking is private and free, with an electric car charger.

What to do nearby

From the door, walking routes waymarked by the house itself set off: to the hermitages of Sant Roc and Santa Lena, about two hours, or the witches' pool route, to a waterfall, four hours with a good climb. By car, the house puts Besalú at about 50 minutes: there you have the fortified bridge and the Jewish quarter with the mikveh. Castellfollit de la Roca and the balloon flight over the volcanoes are a similar distance.