Stand on the rooftop solarium at dusk, a cold glass of Manzanilla in hand, and watch the sun drop behind Gibraltar while the lights of Morocco flicker awake on the horizon. That's not a postcard. That's a Tuesday evening. This single-storey villa in the hills above Manilva delivers one of those rare combinations—a fully renovated main home, a completely self-contained guest apartment, a private pool, and genuine sea views—all within walking distance of the Mediterranean.
The house sits on a 530-square-metre plot in a year-round residential pocket of Casares Costa, the kind of neighbourhood where families actually live rather than just show up in August. Neighbours keep their gardens tidy. The streets are quiet without being remote. And the beach? Reachable on foot in under twenty minutes through a dedicated pedestrian underpass that cuts safely under the AP-7 motorway. Mornings, you'll see walkers and cyclists doing that exact route at sunrise.
Inside, the main villa stretches across 109 square metres and was comprehensively renovated in 2018—so the bones are solid and the finishes are current. The layout flows logically: a proper entrance hall that gives the house a sense of arrival, a kitchen with enough room to actually cook in, a separate dining room for longer evenings, and a living room that catches good natural light through most of the day. The master bedroom is genuinely spacious, the bathroom has been done properly, and there's a guest WC so the practicalities of hosting are already sorted. This isn't a holiday flat dressed up as a house. It feels like a home.
What makes this property genuinely different is the guest apartment. At 40 square metres with its own private entrance, it functions entirely independently from the main house. One bedroom, a second room that works as an office or an extra sleeping space, a bathroom, a separate WC, and its own kitchen-hall area. Guests can come and go as they please. Or, if you're not hosting, the apartment becomes a workspace, a games room, a teenage retreat, or—and this is worth thinking about—a short-term rental unit that offsets your running costs while you're back home. On the Costa del Sol, well-positioned rental properties with separate units consistently attract good occupancy from spring through October, and increasingly through winter as the region builds its reputation as a year-round destination.
The garden is set up for the outdoor life that draws people to Andalucia in the first place. The pool is 28.71 square metres—big enough to swim laps, not just cool off—and the surrounding area gives you room for sun loungers, a dining table outside, and enough green space that it doesn't feel like a car park with water in it. There's also a practical storage room with an exterior WC, which anyone who's managed a pool will tell you is genuinely useful rather than just a checkbox feature.
Up top, the 25-square-metre rooftop solarium is where this property earns its price. The sea views are real and unobstructed—you're looking out toward the Strait of Gibraltar, with Africa visible on clear days and the white outline of the Rock of Gibraltar to the east. Set up a couple of deck chairs and a small table up there and you have one of the more quietly spectacular private terraces on this stretch of coast.
Casares itself—the hilltop village rather than the coastal strip—is a twenty-minute drive up into the mountains and worth every curve of the road. The old town clings to a Moorish castle ruin, the streets are narrow and white, and the Sunday market draws locals from across the comarca. Down at sea level, Sabinillas and Puerto de la Duquesa are the daily hubs: the latter has a marina with reliable fish restaurants along the quay, a weekly market on Fridays, and enough cafés to make a slow morning feel purposeful.
Estepona is twenty minutes west—a town that has spent the last decade investing seriously in its historic centre, with painted murals throughout the old quarter, a covered fish market worth visiting for the theatre of it, and a restaurant scene that punches well above its size. Marbella and Puerto Banús are forty minutes east when you want a bigger night out. Málaga airport is just over an hour, with direct connections to most major European cities. Gibraltar Airport is around thirty minutes, useful if you're coming from the UK.
The climate here runs to around 320 sunny days a year. Winters are mild—January averages 17°C during the day—which is why the area holds its residential population all year rather than emptying out after the summer. Spring and autumn are genuinely the best seasons: the hills above Casares are covered in wildflowers from February through April, hiking trails through the Sierra Crestellina are accessible and signposted, and the coast is warm enough to swim from May through November.
For international buyers, Spain's property market on the Costa del Sol continues to attract sustained demand from Northern European buyers, particularly from the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia. The region has mature legal and fiscal infrastructure for non-resident owners, and property management companies in the area are experienced with absentee owners who want their property maintained and potentially rented in their absence.
Key features at a glance:
- 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom detached single-storey villa in year-round residential area
- Fully renovated main house (109 m²) completed in 2018
- Self-contained guest apartment (40 m²) with private entrance and independent facilities
- 25 m² rooftop solarium with unobstructed sea and Gibraltar views
- Private pool (28.71 m²) set within a 530 m² landscaped plot
- Beach accessible on foot in under 20 minutes via pedestrian underpass
- Storage room with exterior WC for poolside practicality
- All daily amenities within a 5-minute drive
- Puerto de la Duquesa marina and Friday market nearby
- 20 minutes to Estepona, 40 minutes to Marbella
- Under 70 minutes from Málaga International Airport
- Strong short-term rental potential via the independent apartment unit
- Move-in ready condition, no immediate renovation required
- Year-round mild climate with approximately 320 sunny days annually
- Close to hiking trails in Sierra Crestellina natural area
If you've been looking for a Costa del Sol property that works on multiple levels—as a holiday retreat, a home for extended family visits, or a smart investment with rental income potential—this one is worth your full attention. Reach out through Homestra today to arrange a viewing or to request a full information pack. Properties combining a renovated main house with a genuine independent apartment unit at this price point are rare on this stretch of coastline. Don't wait until someone else makes the call.
