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| History
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The country house Oka is an old 16 th century mill (1550-1560) situated in the quiet San Lorenzo neighbourhood in Berriz. Surrounded by mountains, rivers and fruit trees, the house still keeps a number of elements that show the various activities developed by its ancestors.
From 1550 to 1910, the house was used as a mill. The ''baserritarras''
-the local farm workers- would take their donkeys to transport wheat and corn grain which were later ground in the mill at Oka.
Today, the mill´s old water storage pool is maintained, as well as part of the internal structure and the water drainage arch.
In the 19 th century, in 1850, three hundred years after its initial construction, the mill was almost entirely rebuilt, due to a great flood. Then, in 1910-1920, with the arrival of industrialisation, the old mill was replaced with an electrical plant which produced and sold electricity to the towns of Berriz, Mallabia and Ermua and the country houses in Berriz themselves. The machinery used to produce electricity until 1965 has been kept almost completely intact.
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| The House
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| At the end of 2007, the uppermost parts of this historic edifice, of various floors, was renovated and converted into a comfortable and welcoming country house.
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| Here, we find three bedrooms- with complete private bathroom- a fully equipped kitchen and a large but cosy lounge/dining area.
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| The house is made of wood and sandstone from the nearby Oiz mountain and is located quite near the Urkiola Nature Park and the various towns in the Durango area. The three capital cities of The Basque Autonomous Community are also a short distance away: Bilbao and Vitoria are 30 minutes from here, San Sebastian at 45 minutes and the beaches in Lekeitio and Ondarroa only 20 minutes.
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