This is the continuation of the continuation of the continuation of a story that began long before our time and which we continued 40 years ago.
Athena always, always has a plan. Rick Riordan
This is the story of a house we’ve named Casa Pacha Mama, and for good reason. Like many houses in Cervera del Maestre, it’s built from the stones of the castle. It’s one of the more recent houses built after the expulsion of the Moors from Al-Andalus.
Athena is also the goddess and patron saint of craftsmen. The Casa Pacha Mama building bears the mark of many independent bricklayers and craftsmen and many volunteers who contributed to the project, making a statement. The house is a place of peace and community, a place of balance and well-being. It is dedicated to, and also a symbol of, a great love. But it is not only the love of one man for one woman; it is also the love of our community for this woman, who somehow and always brings everything together and holds it together. Thus, this house is an expression of this affection and an inspiration for all to take it as a role model.
And this too is a story within a story and a continuation of the story of a line of women in a family who have always been, and remain, somehow the center of attention and passion.
And it is also a story about the times we live in. And because Athena is also the goddess of wisdom, strategy, and warfare, it is also a story about these arts in these times.
Previously, Casa Pacha Mama was likely a steep staircase connecting two streets in the village, which was later built over and eventually converted into a small house. The house served for a long time as the home of a poor family. It had no glass windows, only simple wooden shutters. There was a rabbit hutch in the attic and a chicken coop on the first floor. The donkey stood next to its cart in the cellar. The family had a kitchen and a single bedroom on the ground floor. Instead of a toilet, there was a wooden hatch in the floor. A shelf with three amphorae and a cupboard in the corner were the only places to store food. There was no electricity or running water until 1987.
All of that is a long time ago. Casa Pacha Mama was the second house we bought in the village. It was Antje’s house. She was skeptical at first and didn’t want to take on that risk in addition to CASAdelDRAGON.
But even back then, without considering a community, our stated goal was to make people independent, or rather, to support them in achieving greater independence. That remains a stated goal of our community today. Owning a home is an expression of this independence.
For the first few years, Casa Pacha Mama was used as a guesthouse for the people who helped us rebuild CASAdelDRAGON. We installed water and electricity and set up a small kitchen. We also had a toilet, a small sink, and a shower. There was only cold water. But at least there was water.
After deciding to convert the ground floor of CASAdelDRAGON into an art gallery, the plan was conceived to rebuild the house, utilizing all the building materials that were still stored on the ground floor of the Dragon House and no longer needed. This left three and a half years until the opening of the first exhibition to prepare the gallery and, beforehand, to install all the materials in Casa Pacha Mama (doors, windows, reinforcing steel, wooden beams, pipes, electrical wiring, etc.).
During this time, we only managed to complete the shell of the building. Interior work had to be put on hold. Our resources for construction were tied up elsewhere.
We had stored the floor tiles in the basement of the house for over 20 years. We had brought them from Valencia along with the tiles for the gallery in CASAdelDRAGON. At the time, we were traveling with our friends Inge and Henk DeRooij from Vinaros. We returned to Cervera del Maestre with three and a half tons of tiles in a trailer and some vans.
In 2023 and 2024, we continued the interior work. The spiral staircase, in particular, as the central element, determined all subsequent steps. The platforms at the top of the staircase dictated the heights for the arches, and the temporary covering with simple wooden planks allowed progress on the interior work.
Love simply is. That is the testament of Athena or Sherine or Hagia Sofia – love is. No definitions. Love and don’t ask too many questions. Just love. Paulo Coelho
To avoid putting too much strain on the building’s structure, we opted for expanded clay aggregate. It’s easy to work with, and with enough help, the floors can be easily accessed – thanks in part to the existing staircase.
At the end of the shell construction of Casa Pacha Mama, we had already applied the finishing plaster on the second and first floors. Beforehand, all the electrical wiring had to be installed. Junction boxes were in place. Cables had been pulled. Everything was ready for connection. But we had to wait 18 years for that! So it was a huge relief when Carsten, as a master electrician, was able to certify the functionality and operational safety and put the installation into operation.
When I’m in Germany, I often visit a scrap metal dealer. I usually have something with me, which I give him – without asking for payment. The man, originally from Russia, was a bit unsure at first and didn’t quite know how to interpret my behavior. But he was always happy to see me. Sometimes I found something I wanted to take home, and I got it, and I suspect, at a particularly good price.
Once, I found several electrical cabinets in his yard and asked if I could remove the circuit breakers. He said yes and let me do it for four hours. When I asked about payment, he waved it off. I took all the circuit breakers, timers, and DIN rails home and sorted the parts. In Cervera, we stored these parts at the Art Camp, and friends kept asking me for circuit breakers for electrical installations. There are now several houses in the village with circuit breakers from these cabinets. And now there’s another house, Casa Pacha Mama. The installed circuit breakers are state-of-the-art and have been thoroughly tested by Carsten. The house now has several independently operable control loops. This would limit a short circuit to just a few points. When we rebuilt the facade, I also prepared an earthing system for the house in the concrete foundation above the rock. Over twenty years later, this has now been put into operation – and found to be working perfectly.
After the rough screed was laid, a fine layer was applied to provide a good base for the floor tiles later.
The tiles were deliberately laid at an angle. All the walls are crooked and curved, making it impossible to define a straight starting point. Instead, we decided to use the center of the landing of the spiral staircase on each floor as a reference and place the first tile there. This then determines the position of all the tiles in the room.
In the first step, all the whole tiles were laid. In the second step, all the smaller pieces were measured, cut, and laid. The floor tiles are made of fired clay.
The Valencia region has been known for its ceramics since Roman times. The Moors brought new glazes, symbols, and forms. All of this is still preserved in the building materials from ancient times. Nowadays, the kilns are gas-fired; previously, they used charcoal. Thus, a great deal of energy is contained in each tile. Currently, prices are rising, driven by scarcity and the ever-present speculation. This was factored in as a desired side effect. Once again, it’s clear that nothing happens by chance. The long storage period hasn’t harmed the tiles. We are now pleased that these materials are already available locally and in sufficient quantities. And this, too, is a piece of the puzzle in understanding our actions. We often act against the general trend. The decision to purchase so many tiles (for two houses) so early on committed us early, but now gives us a significant advantage.
We bought what’s known as “B-grade” stock. That’s always a compromise, too. As you can see, the colors vary. This provided an incentive to search for a laying pattern that showed no repetition.
A tile cutter (wet) was used on a work table. For the old construction sites, we had purchased a wet saw for tiles and stoneware. That was a big investment. We had to save for a long time. The machine was first used in Germany and then brought to Cervera del Maestre for the interior renovation of Casa Pacha Mama.
The cuts are clean, the dust is bound during cutting, which isn’t as taxing on the lungs. But the work area gets very wet, and the safety goggles fog up constantly. Everything has to be cleaned regularly, the water refilled, and fine-tuned. The work progresses slowly. If you think about the end, you’ve already lost. Motivation can only come from the moment you’re doing it.
It was a special moment to fit in the last two pieces. Antje had laid the tile in the middle. This tile had determined the placement of all the other tiles in the room. Now it was a matter of adjusting and laying the two neighboring tiles.
When empires fall, it’s not so easy for the invaders. If they stick their heads out from the crowd too soon, they’ll be destroyed as a cautionary tale; if they stay on the sinking ship too long, they’ll go down with it or at least struggle to find their footing afterward. The other, braver ones will remember for a long time.
Just as the phases of a human life, a project, a company, or a nation build upon one another, so it is with states that rise to become empires. Just as the two neighbor tiles join the existing center, the Varsallians also gather around the empires, hoping to get something out of it.
Morals today are corrupted by our worship of riches. Marcus Tullius Cicero
We cannot rebel against the obvious, but we can mitigate its effects if we choose what is good for us and for ours.
After that, over 80 baseboard pieces were cut from the floor tiles. These plaster edges are extremely useful and make future maintenance easier. But it’s also a time-consuming job. Your glasses fog up with dust and water while cutting. A stop had to be built to keep the measurements straight.
The tiles are first glued into the curved section of the spiral staircase and then cut into a rounded shape using an angle grinder. A homemade compass with a string is used for marking the lines.
There are many details in Pacha Mama’s house, including several wall niches. The floors of these niches are made of marble. This marble came from a container belonging to a marble dealer in Siegburg, near Cologne, Germany. We had bought marble there for windowsills and, when we went to pick it up, saw a container full of broken pieces. We were allowed to take as much as we wanted. We returned several times and collected several tons of marble. From this quarry, we selected the largest pieces, measured them precisely, labeled them, and stored them in our home unit in Germany. Many friends have windowsills made from these pieces, and the upper terrace of Casa Pacha Mama has a balustrade made of many small rectangles. The marble from Siegburg has been with us for over 30 years now, and we keep finding places where it fits perfectly.
After the floor tiles and baseboards were glued in place, the first floor was completely emptied for the first time. Cutting the clay tiles produced a lot of fine clay dust, bound to the cooling water of the cutting machine. We collected this brownish-red powder as best we could. You can see some residue in the photo. We’ll use it for something else later, but that will be a story for another time.
Then the grout was applied. After it had partially dried, the cleaning of the tiles began. This is a job that seems endless and cannot be postponed. We worked until late in the evening, on our knees, two of us.
Francesca remains in good spirits, even though her limbs ache. The sight of the floor makes it all worthwhile. And with every tile laid and cleaned up, the completion of the work comes a little closer.
In nothing do humans approach so nearly to the gods as doing good to others. Marcus Tullius Cicero
This quote also describes our approach and our way of living together. We think about what might be good for the other person and consider what we can contribute.
Now the floor is ready to be walked on. This photo, along with many others, is part of a photo album we compiled for the family. As a historical record, it concludes with the grouting of the first-floor floor. The remaining work will likely fill another volume.
That, too, is part of our project. As Antje’s father once put it: Do good and talk about it.
The next phase of construction involved the bathroom on the ground floor. We had laid the pipes and connected the fixtures there. This allowed us to test the system under pressure, find and fix any leaks, and then insulate the pipes.
Just as much unused building material had found its way from CASAdelDRAGON to Casa Pacha Mama, the entire plumbing system in the bathroom and kitchen also came from our surplus stock. Drain pipes, copper pipes, connectors, seals, and valves—we could take everything.
This counter-cyclical approach had also proven successful: collect when it’s easy and use it when the time is right.
The natural stone walls in this house are not straight anywhere. Therefore, we opted for clay bricks to create a straight inner wall. This conceals the plumbing and provides a base for future wall tiles.
Working with clay bricks is very pleasant. The bricks are lightweight, easy to handle, and these walls are ideal for cladding that will later be plastered or tiled.
Above all, it’s important to avoid gypsum products, especially in areas like bathrooms and kitchens. This construction is also perfectly suited for lime plasters. These are breathable and prevent mold growth. All the plastering in the interior of Casa Pacha Mama is done with lime plaster.
The shower wall will have a niche for the shampoo and the soap. And there are details to discover there too. But we’ll leave that to those who will be using the shower.
The copper pipes are elaborately insulated. This also serves to protect them. This way, the aggressive mortar cannot easily corrode the pipes later.
These pipes will be hidden by a clay brick wall in front of them. This is an example of a phenomenon we observe time and again. People seem to tend to compensate for a lack of knowledge with assumptions and, based on these assumptions, make their actions appear rational. In doing so, they also accept much that goes unnoticed in the background and underestimate their dependence on it. Thinking takes energy, and anyone who wanted to survive on the steppe had to manage their energy wisely. Building a bathroom yourself changes your perspective on the value of that very bathroom. Perhaps that’s why, in our community, we tend to do more things we can do ourselves and buy fewer ready-made—and sealed—solutions.
In order to determine the exact location of the drainpipe for the toilet bowl, everything was set up temporarily.
Architecture, including interior design, is a powerful art form. It determines a great deal and dictates how people can and should move within it. Gaudí instructed his architects to study nature. He was particularly interested in the structural solutions that had evolved in nature. Model making was a proven method for approaching this process of understanding. In our case, the toilet bowl was moved around the bathroom, and we took our time to determine the right place for it.
This is reminiscent of another phenomenon we’re observing these days. People develop the feeling that they have to make a decision. In reality, they’re being manipulated into it, because a decision makes further manipulation easier. Maintaining an open-ended situation makes it easier to overcome one’s own preconceived notions. When you think about the architecture shown here, this idea seems contradictory. But it isn’t. In fact, throughout all the years in which we haven’t been able to advance the interior construction of Casa Pacha Mama, we’ve repeatedly had time to consider how we could proceed. What we’re doing now, therefore, isn’t the product of a current deliberation, but rather an expression of the certainty gained from countless thought experiments of the past. And it’s also a kind of summary of all the construction activities of our lives, and thus a symbol of the distance we’ve traveled.
The shut-off valves for the individual water circuits will disappear behind a large inspection hatch.
During construction, something became clear that is obvious but often ignored – especially in advertising: everything that’s installed can break. Every function has its own set of limitations.
Early on, we started limiting all functions to economically and technically feasible levels. If damage occurs, it’s good to be able to contain it. The number of shut-off valves indicates this. We can divide the cold and hot water lines into many small segments. There are two independent supply lines for the bathroom and kitchen. If one line fails, the rest can continue to operate safely.
Just as this article represents an opportunity to preserve and share knowledge and observations across time, so too does every building offer the chance to deposit messages for the future. On the eve of constructing a small concrete lintel in the bathroom, which essentially serves to anchor the sink, a message for the future was written.
What messages could have been placed in this jar: warnings to the future not to be misled by lab leaks in gain-of-function research, statements about politics that are not perceived as friendly to the people, with references to Bonhoeffer and his remarks about the stupid people whose level one shouldn’t stoop to. Many things are conceivable. But what would the value be? If this jar is found during construction work in 200-300 years, what would that have to do with the lived reality of those then living? We don’t know. But we do know that thoughts create reality. And we have placed good thoughts in the jar for the people who will inhabit this house. In doing so, we have also thought of the many unknowns we cannot know, far beyond the boundaries of our own lives, far beyond those of our other family members.
We imagine ourselves in this bathroom, thinking of these thoughts. They then become self-referential. And we become part of the group of people who enjoy it.
So we collected the good wishes for the future inhabitants of this house. Along with a small treasure, the jar was placed in the concrete. Whoever enters the bathroom now and knows something of this message will feel a special connection. It is also a pleasure to write history.
The concrete stub has been freed from its form work and is waiting for the wall tiles. Many years ago, when an architect evaluated our technical solutions at CASAdelDRAGON, he remarked that everything was very solidly built. He said it sometimes reminded him more of a bunker, but it would certainly be one of the last houses still standing in that village in the distant future. He left open the question of whether this reflected the then-expressed will of the residents and neighbors, or whether it was due to the demolition costs, which he maybe considered too high.
Judge not by the number, but by the weight. Marcus Tullius Cicero
But it can also be described differently. It’s about balance and harmony, and about the feeling of a solid foundation. And even in this detail, it’s about intelligently reusing the leftover materials from other construction sites.
On March 18, 2026, the last bricks were laid in the bathroom. This brings us a little closer to the day of the inauguration of Casa Pacha Mama and to our goal of celebrating this inauguration in a fitting manner.
What do Athena, Cicero, Casa Pacha Mama, and a few people’s views on living together and interacting with the society around them have to do with each other? What could be the intention behind writing such an article? After all, you’ve read this far.
It was Athena’s tour through the last 12 months of construction. As the goddess of wisdom and craftsmanship, she is considered an excellent companion for this walk.
Perhaps it’s a new form of literature, a product of general censorship and the turmoil of the times. But haven’t all times been confusing, or at least offered confusion?
Whether one has to agree to the biometric measurement of one’s own body to be allowed to read this article online in the near future remains to be seen. That remains as open as the story itself.
One thing is certain: You write the continuation of this story! And you begin now!
