In the Catalan countryside, a masia was known by the family who held or worked it. When the family changed, so — slowly — did the name. Few houses in Olivella show this better than ours: it is one of the oldest in the municipality, and one of the ones that has changed name most often.
The first record, from 1296, calls it the mas d’en Pere Ferrer. By 1477 it is in the hands of Joan Mas — the mas d’en Mas — and the hearth censuses list Johan Mas here in 1497 and Feliu Mas in 1553. In 1621 it is the Casa Vella d’Olivella; in 1658 Antoni Olivella sells it to the widow Magdalena Puig, and it becomes the mas d’en Puig.
“Mansum vocatum nunch den Puitg antea den Olivella antea den Mas et antiquitus vero den Pere Ferrer.”
Deed of sale, 1733 — “The farm now called Puig, before that Olivella, before that Mas, and in ancient times Pere Ferrer.”
That sentence comes from 1733, when Magí Puig sold the farm to Emanuel Falç of Sitges. The Falç lived in Sitges. Like many landowners, they placed a masover — a sharecropping family — on the land. In 1740 the records name him: Pere Camps.
The family that stayed
The Camps stayed for more than 170 years. By 1793 Jaume Camps was working the estate a rabassa morta, the old Catalan vineyard lease tied to the life of the vines. In 1819 the parish accounts mention Maria Camps of “Casa Camps” — the first time the house carries the farming family’s name. By 1860 the official gazetteer simply lists “Can Camps”.
Josep Camps, the last of them, left in 1911. The name stayed. In 1996 it was officially approved.
What it means for us
We are not the first custodians of this house, and we won’t be the last. As it opens to guests, the house takes a name from its own past — Masia Vella Olivella, after the Casa Vella d’Olivella of 1621. Can Camps, the name the Camps family earned, stays in every story we tell, starting with our film series, Voices of Can Camps.
If your family has a connection to the house, we would love to hear from you.
