Spain Houzz: Custom Details, Natural Materials & Island Life
This home on a working farm in Spain's Balearic Islands reflects the owners' and architects' love of the local landscape
You may have already come across the work of Spanish architect Marià Castelló. He designed this home on the island of Formentera, Spain, in collaboration with Lorena Ruzafa, an architect at his studio. The house, which is named ‘Es Pou’ after a historical place name on the island, is similar in form to Castelló’s other projects, two of which are also located on the island of Formentera.
The house, which is divided into three sections, is situated on a rural farm characterised by a centuries-old network of dry-stone walls and fields.
“The house is located in the western section of the plot, parallel to a trail that’s more than a kilometre long,” says Castelló. “It is orientated toward the south and protected from the setting sun by a mass of vegetation. The owners requested that we keep the most fertile area free for existing agricultural activity.”
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“The house is located in the western section of the plot, parallel to a trail that’s more than a kilometre long,” says Castelló. “It is orientated toward the south and protected from the setting sun by a mass of vegetation. The owners requested that we keep the most fertile area free for existing agricultural activity.”
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This is not a holiday home: it was designed to be lived in all year round. “The farm has belonged to the owner’s family for more than a century. It was once part of a much larger, 100,000-square-metre farm that had belonged to his grandfather. That is how such a young couple, with a limited budget, were able to build this house on Formentera,” he says.
The architect’s deep respect for and knowledge of the surrounding land motivated the huge amount of care put into details and the selection of materials. Together, this gives the interior its character and places the home in dialogue with the environment. In fact, Castelló points out that one of the owners’ requirements was to avoid encroaching on the arable area of the plot “in order to maintain the continuity of the agricultural activity started by his ancestors”.
The architect’s deep respect for and knowledge of the surrounding land motivated the huge amount of care put into details and the selection of materials. Together, this gives the interior its character and places the home in dialogue with the environment. In fact, Castelló points out that one of the owners’ requirements was to avoid encroaching on the arable area of the plot “in order to maintain the continuity of the agricultural activity started by his ancestors”.
Looking out from the living room and kitchen and across the porch, the home offers deep perspectives over the surrounding fields of wheat and oats.
Outside, the palette is dominated by the warm shades of the earth and the pale green of almond and fig trees.
These colours – so characteristic of Formentera – and the feel of the exterior more generally, enter the home in the timeless and subtle combination of wood and ceramics.
“The warmth of the earth is transferred to the ceiling and floors, which were finished with Mallorca-style ceramic vaults and pressed terracotta tiles, respectively,” says Castelló.
The terracotta tiles were also used on a number of other features, including the facade cladding and headboard in the main bedroom. Castelló even made use of the offcuts from the installation – on the roof, for example.
A ceramic lattice defines both the entrance and the transition between the ‘night’ and ‘day’ areas of the home.
Castelló is clear on what he likes most about the house: “the choice of materials and how they impacted the house when it was just finished,” he says. “Even before we put in curtains and furniture, there was no echo, and the interior had a warm, homey feel. In general, the owners are happy with the house.”
See more hallways images
See more hallways images
There are two bedrooms in the north-facing section. “If I had to choose something that they were particularly excited about, I think it was the day we installed the headboards. They knew we were up to something, but not exactly what it was,” says Castelló.
However, there is one feature that the owners do not love. The house is just 500 metres from the Camí Vell de la Mola, a road that gets very busy in summer. The owner explains that curious passers-by stop to take photos of the house, walk around it, or even touch the door every day. “At first [one of the homeowners] was amused, but not anymore,” says Castelló. “We are thinking about how to design a gate that makes it less accessible from the north without losing its integration into the fragile landscape.”
However, there is one feature that the owners do not love. The house is just 500 metres from the Camí Vell de la Mola, a road that gets very busy in summer. The owner explains that curious passers-by stop to take photos of the house, walk around it, or even touch the door every day. “At first [one of the homeowners] was amused, but not anymore,” says Castelló. “We are thinking about how to design a gate that makes it less accessible from the north without losing its integration into the fragile landscape.”
The coherence and harmony of materials throughout the house reflect the attention the architect paid to all the details. For example, he used white vitrified porcelain plugs and switches that fit in with unique features, such as the headboard in the main bedroom, and more commonplace objects including lamps and bathroom fixtures. A set of lights and special pieces were handmade in the architect’s studio out of formwork specifically for this project.
Most of the furniture was custom-designed to complement the architecture, while iconic pieces, such as the Torres Clavé armchair and the traditional chairs from Formentera [seventh photo – the chair on the left is traditional to the island], “pay homage to the Mediterranean artisan tradition”.
Other, more contemporary, pieces such as the table and coffee tables from the D12 collection designed by Marià Castelló and Lorena Ruzafa for the manufacturer Diabla Outdoor (see previous photo), provide a delicate material and chromatic counterpoint.
Other, more contemporary, pieces such as the table and coffee tables from the D12 collection designed by Marià Castelló and Lorena Ruzafa for the manufacturer Diabla Outdoor (see previous photo), provide a delicate material and chromatic counterpoint.
Part of the bathroom walls are finished with pale green vitrified ceramic tiles that match the colour of the surrounding vegetation. Light filters in through the ceramic lattice, creating a constant interplay of light and shadow.
It is Castelló and Ruzafa’s respect for and attention to the local environment that sets them apart. “I believe that the popular wisdom of traditional architecture, developed anonymously over the generations, has produced a lot of solutions and adaptations to the specific environment, which we cannot ignore,” says Castelló.
“This knowledge is vital, and we try to take advantage of it in our work. This is not just about local and zero-kilometre materials but also about solutions for features like porches, patios, features that filter out light, orientation to catch the prevailing breezes in summer, taking advantage of the surrounding vegetation, etc.”
Castelló tells us that the pandemic has highlighted the value of exterior spaces and the transitions between interior and exterior, typical of Mediterranean architecture.
“This knowledge is vital, and we try to take advantage of it in our work. This is not just about local and zero-kilometre materials but also about solutions for features like porches, patios, features that filter out light, orientation to catch the prevailing breezes in summer, taking advantage of the surrounding vegetation, etc.”
Castelló tells us that the pandemic has highlighted the value of exterior spaces and the transitions between interior and exterior, typical of Mediterranean architecture.
Axonometric rendering of the home
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What did you like most in this home?
Read more:
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What did you like most in this home?
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House at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple
Location: Near the Camí Vell de la Mola hiking trail on the island of Formentera, Spain
Size: 70 square metres, with a 24-square-metre porch
Architecture: Lorena Ruzafa and Marià Castelló
Technical architect: José Luís Velilla Lon
Builder: Toni 13
Engineer: Ferran Juan Nicolau
Facility engineer: Javier Colomar Riera
Design team: Lorena Ruzafa and Marga Ferrer
“The impetus behind these three projects was the desire to create small, 8 x 8 [metre] spaces and their porches. There are, moreover, clear similarities in the layouts,” says Castelló. “In Es Pou, however, we wanted to use ceramics and wood throughout the project, and to fine tune the details by designing the furniture – over the course of several challenging meetings – and making it by hand in our studio. This includes the lights, in particular those on the headboard in the [main] bedroom.”