Hacienda los Molinos de Maestre

Dos Hermanas, Sevilla, Andalucía.

Dating of the building: 14th - 17th century.

Applicant: Almudena Maestre Domecq.

Reason for the award :

For the careful and progressive restoration, carried out by its owner, of the Hacienda de Olivar, built between the 14th and 17th centuries, and an example of the conservation of a monument that has remained in private hands since its foundation.

The estate has remained in the hands of the same family since its creation in the 17th century by Diego Maestre Aernoust, born Jacobo Meester in the Flemish city of Bruges.

Los Molinos de Maestre is a 96-hectare olive farm on the outskirts of Dos Hermanas, just 12 kilometres from Seville. It is one of the best existing examples of an estate of these characteristics, as it has been fully preserved. In this sense, it can be affirmed that it treasures a historical, architectural value and is an example of a particular type of agricultural and industrial exploitation.

The estate has remained in the hands of the same family since its founding in the 17th century by Diego Maestre Aernoust, born as Jacobo Meester in the Flemish city of Bruges. This family of the Flemish bourgeoisie had settled in Seville and Dos Hermanas, attracted by the economic splendour of the town and its monopoly on the buoyant American trade. Married to María Felices de Medina, Diego Maestre settled permanently in Andalusia and bought the property in Torremochuela, the origin of the current estate. Its architecture is the archetype of an olive farm in Seville, despite all the extensions made over the centuries, in the shadow of the Torre Mochuela, a watchtower dating back to Muslim domination, of which there are hardly any historical references. The building has an extended floor plan of ​​3,000 square meters, distributed around two large courtyards with their respective entrance porticoes. The first of them was for the private use of the lord, while the second was destined to the work in the fields, and was surrounded by rooms for agricultural purposes. The noble court, dated 1724, is in the Baroque style and decorated with fresco paintings and a ceramic representation of the Assumption of the Virgin, which attest to the wealth of the estate. The restoration works, exclusively paid for by the owner, were carried out between 2000 and 2008 and consisted of the general refurbishment of walls and ceilings, the fitting out of the old noble part as the owner’s home, and the rehabilitation of the two courtyards, and the Mudejar oil mill and tower.

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