NATURAL HIGH

Set in Majorca’s tranquil Tramuntana mountains, this fabulous finca has been sensitively updated using traditional artisanal techniques

- RACHEL LEEDHAM

A typical summer’s day at the Majorcan home of Mercedes and João Marques Pinto starts with an alfresco breakfast beneath a shady olive wood pergola, followed by a hike into the Tramuntana mountains with their dog Pollock. ‘Our house sits within a World Heritage Site and so we are surrounded by the most beautiful scenery,’ explains Mercedes.

Mercedes, who is originally from Madrid, and her husband João, who hails from Porto, bought the property 16 years ago as the result of a desire to create a constant in the lives of their now grown-up children, Victoria and João. ‘We had been living in Portugal and then in the United States and we wanted to find a place that they could grow up with,’ says Mercedes. ‘We weren’t looking for a typical villa as we were keen to use the house all year round. João runs his business in renewable energy from home, which means that we can divide our time between our main base in London and Majorca.’

The Marques Pintos know very little about the history of their finca rustica (rural smallholding) other than that it was probably originally two homes, built by farmers working the hillside terraces that define the topography of this northern part of the island. ‘When we bought it, the house had only just been connected to mains electricity,’ says Mercedes.