WITH LOVE FROM THE ISLAND OF MALLORCA

NEAPOLITAN TILES, SWEDISH GUSTAVIAN FOOTSTOOLS, DOORS AND JALIS FROM INDIA, AND CHANDELIERS FROM ST. PETERSBURG-ANTIQUES DEALER JON URGOITI CRAFTS AN ECLECTIC HOME OUT OF AN OLD MALLORCAN POSSESSIÓ.

When I cook, I open the fridge and whip something up with whatever I find there. And that is also how I put this house together. The curtains are made from a fabric left over from a mat that was in the garden, the cushions use different pieces of fabric on each side, and almost everything you see was in one of my previous houses.”

Those are the words of Jon Urgoiti, a veteran antiques dealer originally from Bilbao. He is currently in the process of retiring—or so he says, although he doesn’t quite believe it himself—and building a new home and life on the Spanish island of Mallorca. “Building”, in this case, is a bit of a figure of speech.

The main structure of his three-hectare property, Son Beltrán, is a possessió—a Mallorcan farmhouse—that dates back to the 18th century, although it had been abandoned for more than 80 years when Urgoiti bought it.

Today it is an imposing house, like something out of a film, but when Jon first arrived, there was nothing here but some ruins and undergrowth. The property, however, had orange and olive trees, and some majestic cacti—centuries old and taller than the building itself.

It has taken almost five years and many headaches to bring the farmhouse back to life. During this time Urgoiti travelled back and forth from Madrid (at least when he was allowed to during pandemic restrictions).