Michael Harding for The New York Times  A snug three-bedroom Colonial cottage built of stone in 1803 is on the market in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar for $2.1 million. More Photos »  A HISTORIC COLONIAL HOME ON A LARGE LANDSCAPED LOT IN GIBRALTAR  This snug Colonial cottage in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, in the Mediterranean, was built in 1803 by the architect designer John Mary Boschetti, who was renowned locally for designing and building private homes and government facilities. A one-story stone villa called Rose Tree Cottage, it has nearly a quarter of an acre planted with old palm trees and yucca — an unusually large lot in this land-starved territory on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. The house, which has almost 1,800 square feet of space, was expanded in 1917 to include a master bedroom, giving it a total of three bedrooms. A second story could be added above the master, which has a flat roof. A veranda wraps around two sides, offering limited views of the Strait of Gibraltar, through trees. There is also a 11-by-23-foot swimming pool with a pool house.  Though Gibraltar has no historic preservation regulations, a restoration undertaken in 2007 sought to respect the cottage’s Colonial character, painting the exterior white and the louvered shutters black. Similarly, the veranda was redone with historically accurate terra cotta and the floors were replaced with oak. Original windowpanes of handblown glass in the master bedroom and sitting room were retained, said Sammy Armstrong, the listing agent, who is director of Savills Gibraltar. In the garden, the owners discovered several blocks of limestone originally carved from the Rock of Gibraltar, which they used to create a hearth for a woodburning stove in the sitting room. The restoration was recognized with a heritage award from the government of Gibraltar in 2011.  The foyer off the veranda is floored in rustic slate tiles and has a sloped ceiling. To the right are the dining and sitting rooms. Directly beyond the foyer, a pantry with a small refrigerator and off-white wooden cabinets leads to a farmhouse kitchen, also furnished with off-white cabinetry and a China hutch to store dishes. Countertops are mahogany; there is a deep butler sink, and an oven styled to look antique by the British company AGA Rangemaster is framed with a colorful backsplash of tumbled marble tiles.  Off the pantry is a breakfast room, and beyond that are the three bedrooms and the bathroom. The kitchen and breakfast room, and two of the bedrooms, face a large patio tiled in terra cotta and enclosed on all four sides. The master bedroom and the adjacent sitting room have French doors opening to the veranda.  Décor in the master includes built-in wardrobes painted white, and an accent wall covered in a wallpaper of dusty blue peacocks, from the English wallpaper designer Sanderson. The bathroom has a floor laid with Moroccan tiles handpainted in exotic designs in olive, rust and other earthy North African colors.  Rose Tree Cottage is in the South District, one of the primary residential areas in the tiny British overseas territory of Gibraltar, which has about 30,000 residents in an area of about 2.6 square miles. The South District, which has good primary schools, is completely residential, mostly apartment buildings and town houses, with fewer single-family homes. It is about a 10-minute drive from the supermarkets and shops in the northern portion of Gibraltar. While rocky shorelines are nearby, the closest sandy beaches — Eastern Beach, Sandy Bay and La Caleta — are about 10 minutes north, as is Gibraltar’s international airport, which is on the border with Spain, about 15 minutes away.  Gibraltar tends to attract wealthy buyers from many countries seeking a tax advantage, much as Monaco does, agents said. However, Gibraltar has a larger proportion of native-born residents, so the housing market has remained fairly stable despite a flurry of housing construction leading up to the global financial crisis, said Maggie Mifsud, the director of BFA Estate Agents Gibraltar. After the downturn, prices fell by about 10 to 15 percent, then stabilized, Ms. Mifsud said.
Gibraltar has seen a significant increase in foreign buyers over the past decade because of its tax incentives.