Pascua Ortega is one of the most recognised names in Spanish interior design over the last three decades. Now, for the first time, he is opening his private residence in Madrid's Barrio de las Letras - the literary quarter where Cervantes and Lope de Vega once lived - and showing the rooms that, since the late 19th century and through a string of restorations, he has turned into a hybrid of personal studio and family home.

„It was an old, half-ruined building. I fell in love immediately," Ortega says of the moment he bought the mansion more than 30 years ago. The restoration took two years - and that was with an in-house design team. „I wasn't doing things for others and for myself at the same time. Once I committed, I committed fully." The result is a space that doesn't read as a tourist site or a photo studio. It reads as a living home, with the sister's children dropping in, a kitchen where people cook every day.

The main room - the Red Salon - is the most photogenic. Cotton damask on the walls, libraries in the Carlos IV style of the 18th century, and sofas in deep red-pink - not a tourist-bordello red, but the old Spanish aristocratic one. Over the fireplace, a large mirror in a gilt frame. Under the window, books scattered as if someone had just finished reading, not as decoration.

The central courtyard is a surprising feature for a townhouse. There are lemon trees and camellias, with an iron lattice railing that creates a permeable effect - outside and inside at once. From the salon you look out at the courtyard through leaded-glass windows - originals from the 19th century, partially restored. „It is my room for thinking," Ortega says. „Without it, this place wouldn't be a home."

The ground-floor studio is integrated into the residence - not as a separate entity but as a natural extension of the living spaces. „My studio is much more than a workplace. It's a living reflection of my creative work," he says. An interesting question for designers: where does work end and home begin? For Ortega, clearly, there is no line.

The house also has a formal dining room with two tables - one for intimate dinners, one for larger gatherings - and a popular bar where guests naturally gather. „I'm lucky to belong to a very close, very loved family," Ortega adds. With his sister's four children living there from time to time, the mansion doesn't function as a museum. That is its truest victory.

For young designers, Ortega has a simple piece of advice: „I'm especially interested in sharing what I've learned, in passing my work on to the new generations." The house is now opening for limited visits - not as a commercial attraction, but as a private offer to design and architecture students. A small, quietly carried sense of stewardship for the heritage - exactly the kind of thing other designers often skip.