Michael S Smith brings influences from Mallorca's rich history to a clifftop house

Smith says, “Working with the local architectural firm Bastidas, we invented a narrative that the original (imaginary) structure had been a Moorish fortress overlooking the sea. And from there we spun a fantasy involving all the influences that had washed over the island—Roman, Byzantine, Venetian, Moorish, Aragonese, and Spanish—each leaving their imprint on the home we see today.”

On the exterior they accentuated the home’s main vertical block, reinforcing the idea of a fortified tower guarding the coastline, and raised the garden terraces to make them appear as parapets protecting the tower itself. On the upper floors small lookouts—terraces and balconies—were created for several of the bedrooms.

For the interior of the house, Smith and his clients ran headlong with the inspiration of Mediterranean cross-pollination. Together they had toured many iconic homes, such as Hubert de Givenchy’s house in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and others in places like Capri and Marrakech. The clients had already owned a house on Mallorca and knew how diverse the interiors could be. “They loved the idea of a pan-Mediterranean mix, collecting the diverse objects and distinctively textured fabrics that are so well-suited to Mallorca,” the designer says of the homeowners.

Hence the dining room has a hefty baroque Venetian chandelier hanging from a deeply coffered wooden ceiling made in Morocco. There’s also a suite of vintage klismos chairs from Greece and a gracefully sleek Jacques Adnet cabinet, adding a French accent. In the adjacent living room, Smith stencilled the walls with a delicate veil of lacy white patterns derived from Indian jali screens, the intricate, privacy-enhancing latticework widely used throughout the Islamic world, including North Africa and Spain’s Andalusia region. The Spanish steel-and-glass pendant lamp reflects a similar feel in its faceted panels, as do the bold geometric African textiles that punctuate the room.

A love of exoticism, colour, fantasy, and bold pattern took root throughout the home and is especially apparent in the winter garden, with its bright floral upholstery, jewel-toned Moroccan tile wainscoting, and a towering Maison Jansen-ish metal palm tree—a wink at Mallorca’s reputation as a sun-splashed paradise. The room has large glass doors that open onto various terraces in warm weather but also allow it to be sunny yet snug in cooler seasons, which do occur. In the chilly and wet winter of 1838 to 1839, George Sand and Frédéric Chopin nearly froze on the island, where they had come to try to escape the cold of Paris. In short, they discovered what all Mallorcans know—that the island enjoys all four seasons, and the best houses are prepared for them.

One of the cosiest guest rooms has shaggy Berber carpets, a traditional spindle-turned Mallorcan four-poster bed, and a 1950s Italian sofa covered in Mallorcan fabric, all surrounded by wainscoting of a beautifully hand-coloured, handwoven Moroccan wall covering. Says Smith, “I loved this wall covering since I first saw it in Morocco. Years later I began to visit historic houses on Mallorca and discovered it had been used there as well.”