Blue-Sky Thinking

Europe's style set has arrived on sleepy, low-key Menorca, drawn by a cluster of chic farm stays, a high-profile art gallery-and some of the best beaches in the Balearics.

- Rebecca Rose

 

IN THE LATE-AFTERNOON shade on the terrace at Santa Ponsa (lesdomaines defontenille.com; doubles from $342), my family and I became transfixed by two identical, parrot-like birds with tangerine breasts and bright-green backs in a cage next to our table. They popped out from their little house and hopped onto a swing, where they began rubbing beaks and chattering away to one another.

"They are called 'Les Inséparables," the waiter said as he poured our iced lemonade. "Lovebirds, originally from North Africa."

Though the two could surely tell they were far from home, there is a distinctly Moorish feel to the gardens of this luxuriously restored 17th-century farmhouse hotel a few miles from Menorca's southeastern coast. Looking out across the stone walkways that crisscrossed the sunken terraced gardens, with their lemon, orange, pomegranate, and fig trees, my husband, Nicolas, and our two kids, 10-year-old Louis and eight-year-old Audrey, wondered out loud whether the lovebirds would be quite so happy together if they didn't live in such a romantic setting.

Santa Ponsa's confluence of styles reflects the many nations and powers that have influenced this Balearic island over the centuries. The finca's façade is painted Menorca's classic "English red," a shade designed to look like brickwork. And yet, with its white trim and signage, the building is more reminiscent of an Argentinean estancia. The excellent restaurant, Nura, is presided over by a Catalan chef, Oriol Sola Pagés, while the interiors a mix of velvet, rattan, and potted palms-would make any well-heeled Parisian feel at home.