Son Rullan

An Ancient Monastery Remade with a Mediterranean View Swimming Pool

With its stunning silhouette rising from the rugged Serra de Tramuntana only a mile and a half from Cala Deià Beach, this ancient monastery is now the private Mediterranean seaview escape of a fashion designer, an achingly charming hilltop refuge with partial ruins, crowning a peak above the Mediterranean Sea.

Eight bedrooms are spread across its ground floor and two semi floors. They include a ground-level king room with a balcony, a queen room in a chapel, and two shared bathrooms, one accessed from the kitchen area.

Half a floor up, there is a double queen bedroom with a private bathroom, the White Room with a double and single bed, a children’s room with double twins and a bathroom, and the primary king suite with a spacious private bath.

Continuing upstairs, Room Tigre features three single beds, with its bathroom located downstairs. The Superior Room features an ensuite bathroom and king bed.

The home’s interiors are traditional—whitewashed, wood timbered, and stone floored—yet feel bright and contemporary as a result of the casually elegant furnishings, plants, breezy linens, and simple accents.

The property retains its original, 14th-century stone structure, and is surrounded by a finca of centuries-old olive trees. Views from the home’s many al fresco patios and terraces take in “Sa Foradada” and the semi-wild garden features a pool overlooking the Mediterranean. Dining and table seating spaces are many—both indoors and out—with some tables and chairs shaded, and others truly al fresco. A yoga studio offers a pillowed practice space for 16.

Around

A remote location up a wild mountain road, the property sits on a stunning vantage point overlooking the Mediterranean Sea near the town of Deià on the northwest coast of the Balearic island of Mallorca. There is a long footpath leading into Deià, and the pretty village offers the best of both mountain and coastal Mallorca. Popular with artists and celebrities (Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Michael Douglas own homes there), Deià is perched in a ravine at the base of Teix mountain, with panoramic Mediterranean views in a UNESCO World Heritage landscape of the Serra de Tramuntana, a rugged mountainous area also referred to as Mallorca’s backbone. Son Rullan is one of three monasteries built in the area after the Crusades by Catholic missionaries. English poet Robert Graves moved to the village in the 1930s, and his home, Can Alluny, is now a museum. Olive cultivation has been formative for the area since the time of the Roman and Islamic occupations, and citrus groves are also a key agricultural product for the area.

Deià’s location between mountains and sea means recreational activities are abundant, from hiking and swimming to strolling the restored ancient stone architecture to visiting the Sa Foradada peninsula, a spectacular lookout made more spectacular by a house-turned-museum that once belonged to an Archducke, Son Marroig. Golf, tennis and country club socialites should make their way to La Residencia, a Belmond Hotel against the Mediterranean sea for a day on the courts and greens, afternoon tea, and the resort’s Mediterranean-inspired dinner menu.

Cala Deià is less than two miles from the property and accessed via a 30-minute walk from the village. The small rocky cove features two waterfront restaurants famed for their fresh catch of the day, and the town’s second beach, Llucalri, requires accessing via boat (or on foot), a secluded spot known for its natural mud baths, clear water, and wild nature.

Location

Deià, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain. Nearest airport: Palma de Mallorca (40km)

Best time to visit

March to September