c r e a t i v e r e t r e a t

B E F R E E TO E X P LO R E . . .

new skills, fresh flavours and ways to see whilst enjoying life in a beautiful eco-retreat

Should your passion be for art, photography, food, the outdoors...

this is the place for you

PhotoSafari + PaintSafariGreen Gym Andalucía

Food of ArtCooking around the Mediterranean Basin

Cooking with Wood

Los Gázquez eco-guesthouse Los Gázquez was once five small farmhouses deep in the alpine desert of Almería. Simon and Donna Beckmann, with their five year old twins, left Peckham in south London eight years ago with the intent to fulfil a dream of living off-grid in a minimally designed new vernacular space.

Eight years later their dream is realised and you can share it. They make electricity from the sun and the wind and they heat the house with solar and bio-mass. Reed beds treat their waste water and everything is recycled. The building and its interior is a triumph in both restoration and design. If we were to compare it to a conventional structure of the same size and in the same climatic zone then Los Gázquez is 85% carbon free.

Cortijada Los Gázquez: open 365 days a yearinfo@losgazquez.com

We call Food of Art ‘cooking for the cultural nomad’ as you can travel to the origins of Los Gázquez’s food via the flavours. We call this food style ‘vernacular’, the unconscious food of cooks based on knowledge accumulated over generations. Here at Los Gázquez we always ask ourselves ‘what can we take to the kitchen, what animals can we rear on this land, what vegetables can we grow, what flavours can we forage from the wild, what is in season and what can we preserve’?

Cooking around the Mediterranean Basinvimeo.com/creativecourses

Cooking around the Mediterranean Basin is unique in its exploration of ‘food culture’ and ‘provenance’. We explore the landscape and environment of the Mediterranean basin, particularly the alpine desert of our region, and discover wonderful and often unheard of dishes, some only known to particular families. For those with a passion for real food this is their creative course. Combine all your enthusiasms in one place: sunshine, aroma and flavour. You can have a fascinating and fun time sipping a glass of cava in a congenial and happy atmosphere.

“Go off-grid in style at Cortijada Loz Gazquez, a 47-acre creative retreat and guesthouse in Andalucía. Fuelled by wind and solar power, with a biomass wood boiler for good measure (well, for underfloor heating and hot water), it also offers modern design touches and unpolluted night skies.”

The Guardian

Cooking with Wood

Pine wood, olive wood, almond wood and walnut, chopped, split or splintered, drawn from a dry bush cord creates a specific kind of heat, a particular character of flavour and cooks with a distinct quality.

With wood from our land we explore this quality of heat and flavour. We cook quickly, we cook slowly, we sear, singe, smoke and roast. And our food is local such as chorizo, morcilla, cordero segureño, calabaza, our recipes are global.

Green Gym Andalucía: A sense of well-being is an extremely positive experience and here at Los Gázquez we are offering small groups the opportunity to make that connection. Physical activity is a key component as is happiness, a sense of satisfaction, calmness and relaxation. So what’s our recipe?

You spend your mornings ‘hands on’, learning techniques to restore farmland in this high alpine desert, with activities such as dry stone walling, chopping and stacking wood, building systems to stop erosion, working on water catchment systems. After an amazing lunch it is your time to relax. We organise walks in the mountains, photography classes, art classes and cooking classes. You can simply take in the endless sunshine, use the Los Gázquez therapeutic mud bath or siesta. Evenings under the stars will alternate from camp fires to movie nights and of course music, again all accompanied by good local food.

A week living in our home will offset the carbon emissions of a flight from northern Europe.

Two weeks here and you are beyond offsetting; you are negating your carbon footprint.

losgazquez.com/the-place

“One of the most memorable travel experiences of my life... I write Lonely Planet guidebooks so I don’t say that lightly”

Book your creative course now:losgazquez.com

“Earth Shatteringly Beautiful”

“simple, beautiful”losgazquez.com/where-we-are

“I was utterly enchanted by the stunningly designed house,

the setting, the region & the living creative project that the

Beckmann family have embarked upon.”

“A holiday at Los Gázquez is refreshingly different & enlightening. This is the third time I have been back in two and a half years and it won’t be my last - I feel this in itself gives an indication of how this wild place with its peace, ever-changing light and colour is the perfect place for creative exploration.”