THE CASTILIAN FURNITURE

It is tough to enter a villa in Jávea that has never changed its interior design and not feel the legendary déjà vu when observing the peculiar furniture with an enigmatic smell, a traditional texture and colour that contrasts with the immaculate white walls and that combines almost by law, with the wooden beams on the ceiling. You get the strange feeling of having been to this house before, even if it is your first visit.

Walnut wood gives shape to chests of drawers, chairs, tables, consoles, headboards, etc., finished off with black iron handles and wrought ironwork. Castilian furniture has so much character that it is unmistakable for its simplicity, robustness, resistance and pragmatism.

It appeared in this Mediterranean location in the 1960s, as a stylistic response to the construction of second homes for the vacationers, mainly from Madrid, who were already familiar with this type of furniture. The villas and flats spread throughout the municipality - first and second Montañar, Arenal, Cap Martí, Adsubia, Montgó… - were furnished until well into the 80s, with Spanish furniture par excellence.

Castilian furniture was born in the middle of the 20th century, at a time when artistic trends were seeking the splendour of past centuries, which is why furniture manufacturers in the Spanish capital turned their gaze to the Spanish Empire of the 16th century and more specifically to the centre of the kingdom, to Castile, where the palaces of the kings and nobles, the sobriety, the spaciousness and the multitude of rooms, antechambers and dais, are lined with Plateresque style consoles, chairs, tables and chests.

There is nothing to do with the other pillar supporting the Hispanic Monarchy, the Crown of Aragon. Aragon contrasts sharply with Castile in the ornamentation of its furniture and its clothing, as the Italian influence and that of other parts of the Mediterranean belonging to the Crown of Aragon brought cultural riches in the form of patterns, colours and brocades.

Castilian furniture has been a second-class piece of furniture, reviled, peculiar and related to the ephemeral summer stay, temporary and passing through, which marked an era in Spain, especially in coastal areas such as ours.

To enhance the value of this piece of furniture with so much identity is an adventure and also a mission. It is always necessary to recover and restore the furniture that has witnessed the most important moments of our lives, but to do so for those that have only been part of small moments of yesterday's summers deserves a great opportunity, and now that we know their history, we are convinced that they deserve it.