El Reloj Farm
We access the complex through its peculiar entrance, composed of two arches that form differentiated passages for pedestrians and carriages. The garden is configured by geometric walkways and flower beds featuring large Canarian pine trees that are more than 135 years old. The benches and the fountain of the green frogs come from an important farm to the northwest of the municipality called La Concepción. Currently, outdoor activities such as musical concerts, theatrical performances, workshops and thematic meetings are held in this park. Formerly the area was surrounded by orchards.
The building is very altered since it has been renovated numerous times. Inside we find the wooden-lined staircase visible from the entrance door. The main façade is symmetrical, highlighting its large windows and the oculi that flank the entrance on the ground floor. The openings are surrounded by very austere moldings. The gabled roof of flat tile is located on a delicate cornice.
At the end of the 19th century, Mr. Tomás Coderch was the owner and in the first decades of the 20th century the property passed to Mr. Antonio Pérez Pérez. So was the businessman Mr. Francisco Ramón-Borja Gadea, married to Ms. Mª Teresa Sempere Montoyo, who owned several ceramic factories in Alicante and San Vicent del Raspeig.
During the Civil War, the El Reloj farm was seized and converted into a daycare center and residence for the relatives of General José Miaja Menant. In this period, it is worth noting that the general ordered the construction of an anti-aircraft shelter, as also happened on the neighboring Pedro José farm, a tunnel-type shelter that was accessed from the gardens located on the north and south facades.
The house had a small house for the landlords, called El Rincón, which has now disappeared. It was owned by the doctor Mr. Pedro Ivorra Gosálvez, together with his wife he would be in charge of restoring it and later selling it to the famous painter Fernando Soria Pérez. There he lived with his wife Inocencia Giménez Berni and his daughter, Beatriz Soria Giménez.
From May 2013 to September 2017, the El Reloj house housed the work of the painter Fernando Soria, whose permanent exhibition consisted of 225 pictorial works, a treasure full of nuances of light and color. Currently this municipal building is enabled as a Youth Center.