In Calatrava, the seaward edge of Palma de Mallorca’s old town, a narrow street hides a house that turns its back on eight centuries of stone in favor of something quieter. Built around 1800 and stripped down to its bones in 2018, the property became, in 2024, the subject of a second, more delicate intervention led by Bastidas Architecture. “The project sought to restore a dialogue with the building’s original character, reintroducing a sense of continuity, depth, and timelessness throughout the home,” the studio explains.

The house rises through four levels of roughly 100 square meters each, a total of 420 square meters that begins at a garage housing a wine cellar and a private gym, and ends on a rooftop conceived, in the architects’ own words, “almost like the deck of a boat,” complete with a plunge pool, an outdoor kitchen and views across the Bay of Palma.

“The essence of the home resides in its sculptural staircase,” the team says, “an organic architectural gesture that fluidly connects each level while defining the identity, rhythm, and spatial experience of the entire project.” Cast in microcement and lime mortar, that staircase was, they admit, also the hardest part to build. “Nestled within the narrow, winding streets of Palma’s old town and surrounded by neighboring properties in extremely close proximity, the intervention required meticulous planning and coordination throughout every stage of the construction process,” they say.

Interiors, entrusted to Angel Martin Studio, lean on warm ochre facades, off white walls, blue grey Mallorcan shutters, bush hammered Gris Zarci stone and hardwood floors.

A microcement dining table designed by the studio sits beneath a handmade French pendant lamp from Ruevintage 74, its felt shades inspired by the qelesh, a traditional Albanian rural hat, surrounded by darkened oak chairs from BRDR KRÜGER.

The kitchen pairs Estils i Formes cabinetry with Blanco taps and Miele appliances, while the living room gathers a Marcel sofa and Clichy armchair by ByBlasco, a Mozart armchair by Flexform, a jute rug by Francisco Cumellas and a 1962 Taccia lamp by Flos.

Two paintings by Mallorcan artist Jaume Roig break the neutral palette, and in the entrance hall a work by Guillem Nadal, from Galería Pelaires, greets visitors beside oak furniture by Ethnicraft and Wikholmform.