Casa Balandra, a dream in Mallorca
Unnoticed and enjoying solitude. Before, staying in a hotel or taking refuge in a rural house was about alienating yourself from the world, with your own agenda and immersed in your personal bubble. "Do not disturb" was the premise.
If something is changing, it is that philosophy of life when traveling. And, although at the moment, it is social distance that prevails, it is the way in which we hope to do it again.
The Hotels increasingly seek to convert meeting points its common areas, available so that its guests and locals can "rub shoulders" between emails and coffees, working, enjoying the scene or simply watching the hours go by. The communal tables They also started to hit hard before the pandemic, with gastronomic proposals in which a chef cooked for the "family" of clients who enjoys talking to strangers, going totally modern on the table and enjoying homemade flavors, bowls to share overflowing with local products and enjoying evenings that, unlike haute cuisine, seek to comfort and make guests feel part of the destination in which they find themselves.
Casa Balandra –a name inspired by Majorcan boats– is exactly that, the need and desire to turn a home into a accommodation in which things happen . Calmly and in a relaxed way... but let them pass. Located in Portol , this house is the place where the sisters Isabella and Claudia del Olmo they lived as children, before their parents decided it was time to move to Palma.
"Sloop House It is in a town well known for its pottery, 20 minutes from Palma . It is a place that we love and to which we thought it would be a good idea to return – both studied and lived for several years in London. It is not a very famous site and that is funny. of girls we used to go down with our father to town to buy sweets while he read the newspaper in the bar, so everyone knew us. Now that we have returned, no one knew who we were (of course, we did remember everyone!), everyone knows each other and that is something very special ", they explain to us.
Eventually, his idea of returning home and setting up his own lodging concept was joined by Cecilia Dennis , friend and her main help when shaping the project. "Our house is divided into three little houses. The farmhouse joins the two in the middle, and then there is a small one that is where Claudia and Ceci live," Isabella tells us. Then there is the big house that has six double bedrooms and five bathrooms . The dining room is located at the entrance and upstairs there is a living room with a fireplace ", she details her. But what exactly happens here that makes it so special and that differentiates it from any other country house? Culture and community spirit.
"We always started this with the idea of setting up a physical site where people could come to work, eat, stay ... we wanted a place to create a community Y meet new people . A place with magic", they confess to us. The House has only been open for a few months, so they also open up and explain that they are in a phase of self-discovery.
"We have started with an idea of what we want to do but we also want to change and make this a bit ephemeral . Thus, if in five years we want to move it to another place, well, we will do it, already with the established concept, flying will be easier".
In the meantime, your house is rented in its entirety , works like guesthouse and as a base of operations for its "weekends of indulgence" . "What it is about is create experiences in which to unite different people but with the same interests. We want to revive the unhurried experimentation , the delight of live well, eat, take a nap ...", say the three partners. "That lifestyle has been forgotten and we want it not to disappear", they continue. To do this, organize yoga classes, gastronomic workshops , creative experiences, musical events and residencies with chefs whose vision makes everything more meaningful. This time, at the table.
In October, for example, they featured the presence of chef Nana, a duo from Amsterdam cooks that focused each of the meals on a local ingredient.
"One meal was entirely dedicated to the olives another was dedicated to dill . The cooks went to the fields and looked for the products that they liked the most and that, in fact, we didn't even know they existed", they tell us between laughs. "When they made the meal of the olives we went to a olive grove and they liked it so much that they decided to set up the food there . The truth is that they thought a lot about integrating the local gastronomic culture in our proposal", they continue.
In August, it was Matt Degn (with Au Passage experience) the one who harmonized his experiences) but is also Claudia the one that rolls up her sleeves as soon as she gets the inspiration to ride authentic feasts . "I love pasta, it's always present at my dinners," she tells us. One of the last ones she set up was under the name of Sobremesa, with creations like some orecchiette with broccoli, anchovies and pangrattato; quail with sage and butter ; and a pana cotta infused with fig leaves.
Eat, drink and sleep. Mission accomplished. But there is still more. "We are also artist residency and this month we are hosting the first. They will stay here throughout November with the idea of creating a community. We want that when they leave here they do so with a collaboration with other artists , that it is known, that things arise and that they are inspired by the space and the island", they explain to us. In addition, each of them will leave behind some of their pieces to contribute to creating the personality of Casa Balandra.
The house is redecorated by the three of them, but it was Cecilia and Claudia who every Sunday wanted to take everything from the local market , taking small details and curious pieces. Shopping in vintage, second-hand stores and their own creations , have been the ones that have finished giving character to the house.
"The dining room table was designed by us and made by the person in charge of maintaining Casa Balandra, who we discovered is an ace in wood. And upstairs, in the living room, there is another table designed by us , a piece of glass on top of ceramic pieces made by hand in the town. The our grandmother's kimono it's hanging in one of the rooms, we redid the kitchen...", they explain.
"The idea of artistic residencies is that people leave things behind, so when the artists finish their residency we ask them to leave us a piece or memory inspired by Casa Balandra", they tell us about a house with a lot of history and that, little by little, begins to write a new chapter.