The Spanish Canary Islands hosts some of the world's most beautiful beaches and important natural attractions. The archipelago also has a long history as the main stopover for Spanish galleons on their way to America, so it's no wonder that this dynamic landscape has attracted a number of hardy adventure seekers looking to take up residence. We immediately fell in love with these no-frill rock homes showcased over at Dwell, which were built by hand directly into the coastal cliffs and caves of the Canaries. Far from your typical high-tech, green homes, these houses utilize traditional design methods that place DIY sustainability at their core. Take a peek into one of these spectacular structures, as photographer Gunnar Knechtel takes us on a tour of a home on the island of Tenerife.
Looks like something from the 70′s, are you sure this is not just very old news?
It seems these homes have been destroyed – not without lots of painful events and polemics. The coastal law of 1998 has prohibited any construction within certain limits from the coast, applying it retroactively also to homes built much earlier in time (but not to the luxury hotels on the sandy beaches and rocky lines, of course). Villages like Cho Vito have been literally demolished in 2008 and people sent homeless elsewhere (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO5XQdqOY0s&feature=related – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O54jlTZ751g&feature=related). Incidentally, no official news nor evidence is available of these specific homes having been demolished too. And the big hotels are still there too and pumping money.