© Fran Silvestre Arquitectos / photo by Fernando Guerra
Curated by Archirev Editorial | Feature Story | Published Nov 10th 2025
Source: Fran Silvestre Arquitectos
PROJECT TYPOLOGY: RESIDENTIAL (Single-Family Home)
Project Name: Mas Cadalt
Location: Canet d’Adri, Girona, Spain
Architect: Fran Silvestre Arquitectos
Interior Design: Alfaro Hofmann
Developer: Terence & Paula Woodgate
Construction: 2020–2025
Built Area: 385 m²
Site Area: 675,746 m²
Photography: Fernando Guerra
Can architecture restore not just a structure, but a way of life? The question finds its answer in Mas Cadalt, a masterful work by Fran Silvestre Arquitectos. Nestled within the quiet landscape of Serrat de la Cadalt, near Girona, the project breathes new life into an abandoned farmhouse, transforming it into a luminous, self-sufficient home. With elegance and restraint, it bridges centuries of tradition with the calm rhythm of contemporary rural living, proving that renewal, when done with empathy, can feel as timeless as the landscape itself.
Aerial view. © Fran Silvestre Arquitectos / photo by Fernando Guerra
Restoring a Way of Life
The story of Mas Cadalt begins with an act of understanding, not invention. Commissioned by a couple who left behind their urban life in London, the project embodies a search for balance between past and present, nature and habitation. Their professional lives continue unchanged, now carried out remotely from a place where silence, light, and landscape define the pace of each day.
View of the restored façade. © Fran Silvestre Arquitectos / photo by Fernando Guerra
Respecting the farmhouse’s original typology, Fran Silvestre Arquitectos intervened only where necessary. Each space retains its historical proportion while being adapted to a new program; kitchens, bedrooms, and living areas flow naturally within the old stone walls, creating a home that feels both inherited and renewed.
View of the building in its original state. © Fran Silvestre Arquitectos / photo by Fernando Guerra
Spatial Composition
The farmhouse unfolds across three levels that follow the slope of the land.
The entrance level features a kitchen that extends into the tower’s triple height and a living room oriented toward panoramic views of the Sierra de la Cadalt. Two bedrooms occupy the upper floor, while the lower level reinterprets the former stable as a multipurpose space.
An adjoining volume, once used for farming tools, now houses a garage and a studio where designer Terence Woodgate continues his creative work.
Interior view of the living area with stone walls and modern furniture. © Fran Silvestre Arquitectos / photo by Fernando Guerra
Construction and Craft
Mas Cadalt’s construction pays tribute to the vernacular architecture of the Empordà region in Girona. Its load-bearing walls, made of irregular limestone masonry bound with lime mortar, were carefully reconstructed and repaired. Corners, lintels, and jambs, carved initially from ashlar blocks, lend the structure a timeless precision.
Inside, the architects added a discreet layer of cork-based insulation for energy efficiency and created a second inner skin to enhance brightness, integrate modern systems, and ensure low maintenance. The result is a home that preserves its rustic identity while meeting contemporary standards.
Details of limestone masonry finishes. © Fran Silvestre Arquitectos / photo by Fernando Guerra
Interior Design
The interiors, curated in collaboration with Alfaro Hofmann, are conceived as a space that bridges the gap between architecture and product design. Every line, junction, and material decision expresses quiet precision: outlets flush with the wall, materials meeting seamlessly at a single point, furniture embedded in geometry. The limestone flooring maintains a visual continuity throughout, creating a calm dialogue between the old and the new.
Interior. © Fran Silvestre Arquitectos / photo by Fernando Guerra
Sustainability and Autonomy
The farmhouse achieves full energy and water self-sufficiency, a contemporary ideal realized through timeless restraint.
Photovoltaic panels with on-site battery storage power the home, while a custom rainwater collection system feeds cisterns integrated into the landscape. One of these has been adapted into a serene pool for cooling off. Passive design principles, orientation, massing, and ventilation, minimize mechanical dependence. At the same time, the land itself produces enough crops to sustain the household.
View of cistern-turned-pool. © Fran Silvestre Arquitectos / photo by Fernando Guerra
A Dialogue between Eras
Mas Cadalt stands as both a restoration and a reflection. It’s not merely about recovering a farmhouse, but about restoring a rhythm of life, one defined by awareness, light, and time.
Fran Silvestre Arquitectos’ intervention is less about architectural statement and more about empathy, rebuilding what was damaged, adding only what was missing, and allowing the rest to breathe.
Aerial view of Mas Cadalt. © Fran Silvestre Arquitectos / photo by Fernando Guerra
Project Gallery (Photo by Fernando Guerra)
Project Credits
ARCHITECTURE
Fran Silvestre Arquitectos
PROJECT LEAD
Fran Silvestre
INTERIOR DESIGN
Alfaro Hofmann
DEVELOPERS
Terence & Paula Woodgate
TECHNICAL ARCHITECT
Xavier Baldrich
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Windmill Structural Consultants
PHOTOGRAPHY
Fernando Guerra
VIDEO
Jesús Orrico
GENERAL CONTRACTOR
Construccions Costa Burch S.L.
LOCATION
Canet d’Adri, Girona
CONSTRUCTION YEARS
2020–2025