Inside a Restored Mallorcan Finca

Centuries-old fincas and traditional casas payesas across Mallorca are being brought back to life. From the Serra de Tramuntana's stone villages to the agricultural plains of Es Pla, sensitive restoration work respects the island's building traditions whilst accommodating how people live now.

The Material That Built Mallorca

Marès sandstone defines traditional Mallorcan architecture, this calcarenite, formed from compressed sea sand and shells over millennia, was used to build everything from Palma Cathedral to farm outbuildings. The material's soft, workable nature made it ideal for traditional construction, yet it's durable enough that 800-year-old buildings are still standing strong.

Currently, around 16 marès quarries remain active across Mallorca, and supplies are dwindling. This scarcity has made people much more aware of the material's cultural value. Recent projects like IBAVI's award-winning social housing in Santa Eugènia show that traditional materials and methods can achieve A-rated energy performance whilst supporting local quarries and preserving centuries-old craft skills.

The success of these projects reveals something important. Mallorca's building traditions weren't just about aesthetics. They were sophisticated responses to climate and available materials. Thick stone walls provide thermal mass. Traditional lime mortars allow walls to breathe. Small windows reduce heat gain. These aren't limitations to work around but lessons to apply.

A Growing Movement

Heritage restoration in Mallorca has shifted from niche pursuit to significant movement. Property owners increasingly choose preservation over demolition, working with local skilled artisans to breathe new life into historic structures. This extends well beyond private homes. Boutique hotels in restored possessions, wineries in ancient bodegas, restaurants in centuries-old olive oil mills.

The appeal makes sense. These buildings offer something new construction simply cannot: authenticity, character, and a connection to place. In a restored finca and you can feel the weight of history in the marès, see the craftsmanship in timber beams, experience the proportions of rooms designed specifically for Mediterranean living.

Successful restoration requires careful balance. These buildings need to accommodate contemporary expectations without losing what makes them special. Modern kitchens and bathrooms need integrating into structures that never had them in the first place. Climate control, insulation, and updated services must fit within historic fabric.

Hort de Ca’n Salvà: The Right Balance

Hort de Ca’n Salvà, a beautifully restored finca in Santa Maria, demonstrates what's possible when all these factors align. The restoration respects the building's original character whilst creating spaces that work for contemporary life. It's not a museum piece but a living building that continues evolving whilst retaining its essential qualities.

The interiors strike that difficult balance between heritage and contemporary. Original marès walls have been carefully restored, their honey-coloured stone left exposed in key areas. Traditional terracotta floor tiles ground the spaces. Hand-hewn timber beams overhead speak to centuries of craftsmanship.

Contemporary interventions are honest about what they are. New elements relate to the building's material palette without trying to fake age or pretend to be something they're not. This approach feels much more respectful than either ignoring the building's history or creating pastiche reproductions.

Where Material Choices Matter

Bathrooms present particular challenges in heritage restorations. These rooms need to feel clean and contemporary whilst not jarring against surrounding historic fabric. The fixtures you choose matter enormously.

At Hort de Ca’n Salvà, the bathrooms feature custom concrete vessel basins designed specifically for the project by Concrete Studio. The rectangular forms and seamless construction provide material continuity with the building's plaster and marès stone. The simple forms echo the architectural honesty of how these fincas were originally built. The husk-coloured concrete echos the building's existing palette of lime plaster and marès stone. It's warm without being obviously beige, subtle enough to work with the heritage materials.

Photo credit: Hort de Ca’n Salvà

Local Making, Local Materials

Manufacturing locally makes practical sense for heritage projects. Rather than importing fixtures from distant suppliers, specifying products designed and fabricated in Mallorca using regionally sourced materials aligns with how these buildings were originally constructed. This approach supports local craft traditions whilst reducing the environmental impact of long-distance shipping. It's a contemporary version of how these buildings have always been made.

Every restored finca preserves not just a building but accumulated knowledge. How to build for this climate. How to work with these materials. How to create spaces that respond to landscape and light. Restored fincas, boutique hotels in historic possessions, restaurants in centuries-old buildings offer that authenticity people crave.

Lessons We Learned

Projects like Hort de Ca’n Salvà offer valuable lessons for anyone working on heritage restorations. Success isn't about making contemporary elements look old, it's about understanding what makes traditional materials and forms work, then choosing contemporary pieces that share those underlying qualities. Material honesty. Appropriate scale. Thoughtful proportions. Surface qualities that relate to context.

Hort de Ca’n Salvà show what's possible, thoughtful evolution. Buildings that continue to serve human needs. Continuity, respecting tradition whilst embracing contemporary materials and methods. Creating spaces that honour history without being trapped by it.