Before & After: A Historic Catalan Farmhouse Redone by Espanyolet

Start typing to search...

When we first featured Espanyolet, the Mallorca-based project of Thomas Bossert and Melissa Rosenbauer, the year was 2016 and the duo had quit their jobs in New York, sold their belongings, and embarked on an Eat, Pray, Love-esque year of adventure in which they ended up studying, and falling in love with, natural pigments—and Spain.

A lot has changed since that first post (Antique Spanish Drap Cloth Made New: Espanyolet in Mallorca), including Espanyolet itself. “When we started with our textile products, color and texture were always extremely important to us,” Thomas wrote to us recently from Spain. “Soon we started experimenting with other surfaces that could represent the same color/texture philosophy. That’s when we started with lime walls, ceramic objects, and furniture. When we couldn’t do it ourselves we tried to find other makers and artisans that could collaborate with us. Our clients saw what we were experimenting with and soon asked us to help them with the design of entire rooms and later houses.”

Now the duo designs full-fledged interiors projects—and their own pigmented textiles and limewashes make appearances, too. “Our products are only available to our interior design clients,” Thomas adds. “It’s part of our special sauce.”

Have a look around one of Espanyolet’s recent projects: a historic Catalan farmhouse, redone. (Then scroll down for a look at the drastic Before shots.)

Photography by Pernilla Danielsson, courtesy of Espanyolet.

After

the house is an old traditional farmhouse on mallorca, a holiday escape for the 17 — Above: The house is an old traditional farmhouse on Mallorca, a holiday escape for the owners, who are based in Barcelona. They found Espanyolet through “the magic of Instagram,” Thomas writes. “They found us online and very much liked our modern Mediterranean style. They were one of our first interior design clients and put a lot of trust in us, helping them with the entire house.”

the house had suffered through several less than ideal renovations &#8\2\20 18 — Above: The house had suffered through several less-than-ideal renovations “in the 1960s, ’70s, or ’80s,” Thomas and Melissa surmise, “which left it feeling fragmented and not united. Weird steps up and weird steps down between rooms that should have flowed better.” Much of Espanyolet’s process involved stripping the farmhouse back to the original elements—including digging the floors down to “their dirt origins” and, after much thought, replacing them with microcement for visual ease.

&#8\2\20;when we first saw the house, we loved all the original, traditiona 19 — Above: “When we first saw the house, we loved all the original, traditional elements, like the vaulted brick ceilings, stone stairs, and stone frames of the doors,” Thomas writes. “We wanted to honor these while infusing a more modern and contemporary flair. That’s where the idea of microcement floors came from, as well as the stainless steel kitchen and the wooden floors upstairs.” The stainless steel kitchen (one of our trends for 2024) is by Santos.

the original stone ceiling arches above the cookspace. 20 — Above: The original stone ceiling arches above the cookspace.

though it looks original, the duo built the built in &#8\2\20;sofa de obra& 21 — Above: Though it looks original, the duo built the built-in “sofa de obra” anew and layered it with “beautiful vintage linen, un-dyed.”

a pair of leather sling chairs, from obsolete, in a sitting area. 22 — Above: A pair of leather sling chairs, from Obsolete, in a sitting area.

round jute rugs—found at a nearby shop—echo the house&#8\2\17 23 — Above: Round jute rugs—found at a nearby shop—echo the house’s curves.

espanyolet mallorca farmhouse project, photo by pernilla danielsson 24

espanyolet mallorca farmhouse project, photo by pernilla danielsson 25

Above: The stone stairs are original; the lighting throughout is by Contain Studio. “The house was really dark, and the previous renovations had left wires hanging all over the vaulted ceilings and stonework,” the duo writes. “In addition to stunning hanging ceiling lamps, we wanted to introduce many sconces to highlight those arches and vaults. So we had an eye on function, but we also had an eye on presenting some design-forward options. This is how we came to Contain Studio. These guys hand-make beautiful art-deco style brass lights here in Mallorca.”