Heritage · Can Camps, Olivella · 1296 — today — Seven centuries.
Five names.
One house.

Masia Vella Olivella — known for two centuries as Can Camps — is one of the oldest masies in Olivella, and one of the ones that has changed name most often. Each name belongs to a family who held or worked the house. This is their story, rebuilt from parish books, land registers and the archive of the house itself.

Masia Vella Olivella — known for two centuries as Can Camps — is one of the oldest masies in Olivella. Each of its five names belongs to a family who held or worked the house.

The whitewashed facade of the masia The masia today

“Mansum vocatum nunch den Puitg antea den Olivella antea den Mas et antiquitus vero den Pere Ferrer.”

Deed of sale, 1733 — the house’s names, in one sentence
1296
First record of the farm, as the mas d’en Pere Ferrer
5
Names the house has carried in the records
170+
Years the Camps family farmed here, 1740 — 1911
1668
The earliest date recorded on the house, marked on a roof tile

The names of the house — A house named after the families who held it.

In rural Catalonia a masia took the name of the family who held or worked it. So the house changed name as it changed hands — until the Camps sharecroppers stayed so long that their name stuck for good. Each band starts where a name first appears; in the documents the old names overlap for years.

Swipe to follow the centuries →

The timeline · jump to a century

XIII 13th century Mas d’en Pere Ferrer
  1. 1277
    The Ferrer and Mas families already appear in Olivella’s records — Guillem Ferrer holds a house “next to the new castle” (probably today’s Can Martí).
  2. 1296
    The first record of the farm, known as the mas d’en Pere Ferrer. The name lingers in the landscape: it gave its name to the costa de Puig Ferrer, the slope east of the house.
XV–XVI 15th — 16th century Mas d’en Mas
  1. 1477
    Joan Mas holds the farm, and the house becomes the mas d’en Mas — a name still used in the deed of 1658.
  2. 1497
    The hearth census (fogatge) counts Johan Mas at the farm.
  3. 1553
    A new census lists Feliu Mas here.
  4. 1591
    A village accord on oil for the church lamp counts twelve large masies in Olivella.
XVII 17th century Casa Vella d’Olivella → Mas d’en Puig
Weathered wooden doors at the masia Today
  1. 1615 — 1626
    Francesc Puig — probably the new masover, and a livestock trader — sells a black mule to a farmer from Olesa de Bonesvalls and mares to buyers from Castellet, Garraf and Olivella. From 1625 he also serves as a village jurat.
  2. 1621
    The house is now called the Casa Vella d’Olivella — the “old house” of the Olivella family.
  3. 1628
    Pau Olivella entrusts the Casa Vella, its garden and the lands of mas Vendrell to the farmer Sadurní Mas as a sharecropper (parceria).
  4. 1658
    Antoni Olivella sells the farm to the widow Magdalena Puig. It becomes the mas d’en Puig.
  5. 1668
    The underside of a roof tile is marked with this date and the figure of a woman. It is the earliest date recorded on the house.
XVIII 18th century Mas d’en Puig · the Falç of Sitges
  1. 1725 — 1729
    Magí Puig is both owner and farmer; by 1729 Ignasi Muntaner works the land for him as masover.
  2. 1733
    Magí Puig sells the farm to Emanuel Falç of Sitges. The deed lists every name the house had carried until then.
  3. 1740
    Pere Camps is recorded as masover — the first of a family who will work this land for more than 170 years.
  4. 1783
    A floor tile in the owners’ dining room is dated 1783.
  5. 1793
    Jaume Camps farms the estate “a rabassa morta” — the old Catalan vineyard lease that lasted as long as the first vines planted stayed alive.
XIX 19th century Casa Camps
The green-tiled fountain on the facade Today
  1. 1802
    A Falç will describes the estate: the house with its corral and barn, fields, vineyards, woods and mountain.
  2. 1819
    The parish accounts mention Maria Camps of “Casa Camps” — the first time the house carries the farming family’s name.
  3. 1834
    The estate now belongs to Teresa de Dalmau, widow of Ramon de Dalmau y Fals; Baldiri Camps is the masover.
  4. 1860
    The official gazetteer lists “Can Camps”, a working farmhouse.
  5. 1879
    A mortgage deed describes 33 hectares of vines, woods, fields and olive trees around house no. 1, with its cellar and hearth.
XX 20th century Can Camps
  1. 1911
    Josep Camps, the last of the family, leaves the masia after the owner seeks his eviction. The name stays.
  2. 1927 — 1947
    In 1927 Rosalia de Dalmau signs a sharecropping contract with Joan Romagosa. In 1929 Joan Martí Romagosa is born at Can Camps; remembered as “the last farmer” (La Xermada, 2001), he leaves for Sitges in 1947.
  3. 1994
    A great fire sweeps the Garraf massif.
  4. 1995
    Restoring the masover’s house — the oldest part, facing east — builders uncover a great semicircular arch at the entrance — a sign of the house’s age. (Some summaries date this restoration to 1955.)
  5. 1996 — 1997
    “Can Camps” becomes the official name. The vineyards are taken over by Carlos Esteva, son-in-law of the owning Almirall family of Sitges.
XXI 21st century The next custodians
  1. 2004
    “Pedradura”, a red wine from the vineyards of Can Camps, is presented — made by Can Ràfols dels Caus under DO Penedès, its label proudly naming the Garraf massif.
  2. 2021
    The estate passes to its new custodians, a young couple.
  3. 2025 — 2027
    Restoration of the house and replanting of five hectares with native Catalan grapes. Follow the journal →
  4. Autumn 2027
    The house opens its doors to guests as Masia Vella Olivella — the next chapter of the story.

Who owned it · who worked it — Two families at every table.

For most of its life the house had an owner who lived elsewhere and a masover family who lived here and worked the land — sharecroppers who often stayed for generations. In the end, it was a masover family’s name the house kept.

Holders & owners
Ferrer · 1200sMas · 1400sOlivella · 1600sPuig · 1658Falç of Sitges · 1733Dalmau · by 1827Almirall of Sitges · 20th c.New custodians · 2021
Farming families
Sadurní Mas · 1628Ignasi Muntaner · 1729The Camps family · 1740 — 1911Joan Romagosa · 1927

Owners and farmers named as they appear in the records; dates are first mentions, not full tenures.

Details that tell the story — Look closely when you stay. The house keeps its own records.

[Photo of the 1668 tile] to be photographed on site
The tile of 1668
A roof tile marked with a date and the figure of a woman — the earliest date recorded on the house.
The green-tiled fountain on the facade Today
Arches & the dog’s-head spring
The arched stone doorway of the main house and a spring shaped like a dog’s head in green glazed tile. The great arch found in 1995 is at the masover’s house.
An empty room with its original tiled floor Today
The dining-room tile of 1783
A dated floor tile in the owners’ dining room, from the years of the Falç and the Camps. [Photo of the tile to come]

The house as we found it · 2026

Follow the restoration →
Aerial photo of the masia among the pines
The old hearth with an iron cauldron
Wine barrels in the old cellar
Weathered wooden doors at the masia
The terrace looking out over the Garraf

Voices of Can Camps · the film series — The archive tells us when. Their memories tell us how it felt.

We are recording former landlords and the families who lived and worked here — before their stories leave with them.

Watch the episodes →
Do you remember Can Camps?

If your family lived, worked or celebrated here, we would love to hear from you — and perhaps to film your story.

Memories are welcome in any language.

Sources

Arxiu de Can Camps (house archive) · Arxiu Parroquial d’Olivella · Arxiu Històric de Sitges, Falç collection · Cadastre d’Olivella · Capbreu of 1681 · Fogatges of 1497 and 1553 · Noms de lloc d’Olivella · Masies del Garraf · Inventari del Patrimoni Cultural, Diputació de Barcelona · Olivella, no. 11 (2004) · La Xermada (2001). Chronicle compiled by V. C. V., September 2021. [Credit line and permission to be confirmed with the author.]

Seven centuries of farmers, vines and fire. Your week is the next line.

Request datesGet notified when booking opens