Penthouse, La Quinta, Costa del Sol

A rare southern-facing penthouse crowning the finest position within Buenavista de la Quinta, the flagship address that first announced La Quinta's ambition and, two decades on, has been reborn through a ground-up renovation of exceptional standard.

The setting Buenavista de la Quinta was La Quinta's original statement of intent. Conceived by architect Manolo Burgos and completed in the mid-2000s, it was, for its moment, unusually ahead of its time, built to a level of materials and finishing that competitors would spend the following decade trying to match. It comprises just 71 residences, arranged across two intimate, gated enclaves and set at the highest point of La Quinta, where the land tilts open to the coast.

The community is entirely traffic-free and privately secured, so arrival is calm and unhurried. You walk through mature, meticulously kept gardens, established over twenty years and now beautifully grown-in, past reflective pools and shaded terraces that catch the breeze coming off the mountains. The southern aspect gives the whole estate its light, and from these gardens the eye travels uninterrupted across the valley to the Mediterranean beyond.

The residence This penthouse is, quite simply, the best-placed home in the development, and it commands the finest views of any residence here, a sweeping panorama that gathers the sea, the golf, the mountains and the coastline into a single frame, from a due-south terrace made for long lunches and slow evenings.

Laid out over a single, generous level and served by a lift, the apartment has been taken back to the structure and rebuilt to an extraordinary standard. Marble floors run through light-filled, open-plan living spaces anchored by a fireplace, opening seamlessly to a wraparound terrace with its own outdoor kitchen, so that indoor and outdoor living are resolved as one. The kitchen is fully fitted and integrated. The three bedrooms are quietly luxurious, the principal suite with a walk-in dressing room, and each bathroom is finished with genuine craftsmanship.

That craftsmanship is most telling where it is least visible. The bathrooms have been executed to Norwegian wet-room standards, meaning the entire room is fully tanked and waterproofed with a continuous membrane before a single tile is laid. It is a discipline rarely seen on the coast and the mark of a renovation done properly, for permanence rather than for show. Throughout, the home is equipped with a smart-home system, individually zoned air conditioning, underfloor heating to the bathrooms and efficient aerothermal technology, achieving an A energy rating. It is offered fully furnished, with a private garage for two cars and a secure storeroom.