Paris-based Atelier du Pont has teamed up with Menorca-based Aru Arquitectura to convert a pair of dilapidated old farm buildings into a summer house with a surprising mix of colours and textures.
Estancia San José is the vacation home of a mother and daughter, set amidst 76 hectares of Menorcan countryside.
The renovation involved converting a traditional stone barn and the adjoining farmhouse.
The result is a four-bedroom home with a rustic aesthetic and contemporary details including pivoting doors and an acid-yellow kitchen.
“It was a complete ruin and we brought it back to life,” said Atelier du Pont‘s founders, Anne-Cécile Comar and Philippe Croisier.
“We preserved the character of both buildings but reimagined the entire space,” they told Dezeen.
The owners approached Comar and Croisier after seeing their design for Son Blanc, a Menorcan hotel that also involved converting a former farm building.
Both mother and daughter have spent most of their lives moving around the world. They wanted to create a base where they could spend their holidays together.
Keen to work with a local partner, Comar and Croisier invited Aru Arquitectura to collaborate.
Their design draws on the traditional materials and craft techniques of the Balearic island while also referencing some of the other places its owners have called home, including Africa, the Middle East and Patagonia.
“The owners gave us carte blanche to imagine the interior concept and the different atmospheres in keeping with the spirit of the place,” Comar and Croisier explained.
“We were keen to pay homage to Minorcan savoir-faire and incorporate typical elements such as different types of rendering, textures and wall finishes,” they said.
In the new layout, the former barn becomes a light-filled living space with bedrooms slotted in behind.
This barn originally had just one window, an arched doorway that would have been used to bring livestock in and out.
The architects added a series of matching openings along the rest of the facade, incorporating the pivoting doors.
In the old house, three small rooms were opened up to create a generous kitchen.
The property also includes a hammam and a large outdoor swimming pool.
Natural materials and textures feature throughout, from the rough stone walls of the old barn to the terracotta brickwork that provides internal flooring and external patios.
Much of the material palette takes cues from existing colours and details – for instance, the acid-yellow tiles in the kitchen reference a faded yellow ceiling from one of the old rooms.
Other key details include iroko wood joinery, handwoven headboards and custom-designed bedside tables and side tables in terracotta and rope.
“The work of the hand is also always present and deliberately left visible,” said Comar and Croisier.
Menorca is less established as a tourist destination than Mallorca and Ibiza, the two larger Balearic Islands, but has been increasing in popularity since major art gallery Hauser & Wirth opened an outpost here.
Other recent homes built here include Shift House and Bundle House, both by locally based Nomo Studio, and the minimalist Casa E, designed by Marina Senabre.
Estancia San José’s owners plan to rent their house to holidaymakers when they are not using it.
The photography is by Maria Missaglia.
