How can we not love this residence located in the outskirts of Palma in the Son Vida luxury residential area often referred to as the Beverly Hills of Mallorca?
The owners of BN1 House and their designer Jorge Bibiloni have ticked off most of the characteristics we love in a house: gorgeous setting and views, classic and understated structure, mid-century modernist vibe, huge windows, big pool, slatted wood, and minimalist colour palette and decor.
In Son Vida’s luxury environment, with its fair share of lavish and eclectic residences, this four-bedroom primary home for a young couple with two kids doesn’t appear striking in any way. But it is exactly the classic, understated character of this house that hides what is different about it. The exceptional feature – and the one that defines the entire personality of the residence – is the location of the bedrooms.
The two-level home occupies 450 square metres (4,844 sq.ft) of the 2,000-square-metre (almost half an acre) hillside plot. Bibiloni’s unusual plan placed the bedrooms on the lower level and the communal living areas on the top level.
“Normally we locate the bedrooms upstairs and the living room and the pool on the lower level,” Bibiloni tells The Cool Hunter. “But in this case, we did the inverse. Now, the pool level has much nicer views because it is almost four meters higher.”
Bibiloni’s placement of the rooms resulted in another gorgeous feature. “It is also nice to now have the 11-metre (36-foot) opening from the living room to the pool terrace,” he explains. “The connection between indoors and outdoors is absolutely beautiful.”
Bibiloni is known for his focus on the connection to nature, and for using natural materials such as stone and wood. He describes this project further: “About the interiors, everything is custom made for this project including wash basins, cabinets, stairs and kitchen. We repeat the same natural materials throughout, especially travertine stone an oak in all the fixed furniture.”
The owners of BN1 House are a young family who have a business in another country, but because of the Pandemic they re-figured their lifestyle and decided to locate their main residence in Mallorca.
Son Vida is a highly sought-after area populated by the rich and famous. According to some sources, the property prices here are the most expensive in Palma and start at about two million euros. The neighbourhood has three golf courses and two five-star hotels attracting celebrities, royalty and dignitaries from around the world.
Palma-based Jorge Bibiloni de Oleza started Jorge Bibiloni Studio in 2013. At the same time, he established Domum Projects with partners Pep Torres and Fernando García. Domum Projects offers architectural, interior design, project management and construction services. Tuija Seipell
Images: Tomeu Canyellas
