Can Bassó: the bold refurbishment of a hundred-year-old country house in Ibiza

Ibiza is probably one of the best-known islands in the world, both for the hippies who conquered it and revelled there in the 1970s and for the young people who now invade it summer after summer to party in its most fashionable nightclubs.

Throughout the other months of the year, the inhabitants, both new and those native to the island, lead peaceful lives, surrounded by dreamlike beaches and bays with one of the most renowned sunsets in the world, in wonderful recently-built or renovated homes with an air of good taste and artisanal respect, such as the one we present to you today: Can Bassó.

More than 300 years old, it is an original country house set in the countryside but only five minutes from Santa Eularia, between the land and the sea. The renovation took place on the initiative of Francis Dimmers and the Box 3 Interiores architecture and design studio.

The rebuilding project was based on three essential traditional elements by means of which the original features of the house were preserved: its orientation, with the façade and main door facing each other north to south, thereby allowing cross-ventilation by way of natural air-conditioning, the preservation of the different modules introduced for storing olives and grain and the traditional system for collecting water by means of the aljibe (water tank) method – an architectural recourse for storing generally drinkable water comprising the third key element.

Although the central part of Can Bassó was found in relatively good condition, it was necessary to rebuild the roofs and refurbish the stable and yards which make up the surrounding structures. A more contemporary extension was built to the south of the house, although the estate’s original essence was respected.

Like the phoenix, Can Bassó emerged from its ashes to become the exquisite house it is today. Due to Box 3’s intervention in the interior and its ever-impeccable decorative design, the result is stunning. The Bulthaup kitchen, the lighting by Tom Dixon and Ingo Maurer, the bathrooms by Agape and the furniture by Zanotta, all in contrast with the original stone and recovered pieces, make Can Bassó the dream of any lover of architecture and design.