Dry stone + thatched roof · listed · La Orotava

The hay barn · under restoration

Built of dry volcanic stone, with its green door and a thatched roof. The Cabildo of Tenerife has it listed as an ethnographic heritage site.

Traditional hay barn of dry volcanic stone with a green door and a thatched roof

These months the roof is being rebuilt piece by piece, with the same materials it was first raised with.

The story

The hay barn stored the straw and grain from the threshing floor, and in the humblest homes it also served as shelter. What makes it rare today is the roof: straw woven by hand over a wooden frame, a thatching craft that almost no one keeps alive on the island.

Once the roof is whole again, the hay barn will remain a small space within the garden walk, without losing any of its character.

Did you know

The roof is woven with bundles of straw over a pine frame: the same method once used to cover Canarian country houses.

In detail

Worker thatching the conical roof of the hay barn during the restoration — Thatching the roof, in progress

Interior of the hay barn beneath the gabled thatched roof, with stone walls — The interior, beneath the thatched roof

Paved corner of the garden beside the hay barn, with an iron table and stone steps — The paved corner, beside the hay barn

The other features of the park

Seven pieces of Canary Island craft, inside the garden.

Beam press of the wine press under a tiled roof, with barrels and a wooden screw

The century-old wine press

The traditional wine press still keeps its century-old vault of sandstone brick, the wooden barrels and the bottles stacked in an arch. Outside, the old beam press rests beneath its roof.

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The threshing floor

A ring of open lawn between walls of volcanic stone and Canary Island pines. On this ground the harvest grain was once threshed.

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Stone washing troughs with basins, spouts and metal tubs, beside a clay water jar

The stone washing troughs

The original basins still standing, with their spouts over the stone. Here the laundry was washed by hand before water reached the houses.

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Carved wooden trough, hollowed from a single log, resting against a stone wall beside clay water jars

The carved wooden trough

A trough carved from a single hollowed-out log, resting against the stone wall with a couple of clay jars beside it.

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Manual cast-iron water pump on a stump, beside clay water jars, in sepia tones

The hand water pump

A cast-iron lever pump, mounted over the old well and surrounded by clay water jars.

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Colourful petanque boules on the earth court among Canary Island pines, with a birdhouse in the background

The petanque court

A court carved out among Canary Island pines, with firm earth underfoot and shade that settles in by the late afternoon.

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Wander the park during your stay.

The the hay barn and the other features are yours to explore freely when you stay in one of the houses on the estate, in La Orotava.

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