Risen from the ashes: the restoration of Ibiza’s Can Pep
The sensitive and imaginative restoration of a 500-year-old home in the north of the island
Rebecca Frayn is an author, documentary maker and environmental activist. She speaks to L’OFFICIEL IBIZA about her remarkable regeneration project between Portinatx and San Juan.
Can you tell us about when you discovered the house?
I first set eyes on Can Pep in 2011. Friends who were looking for somewhere to buy in Ibiza, took me to the top of a mountain overlooking a valley in the north of Ibiza that had been razed to the ground in the largest fires the island had ever known only a few months earlier. And there rising from the blackened wasteland all about us, was this derelict but still spectacular old Moorish house – sitting starkly on the mountainside with three sea views.
What were your first impressions?
When the sales agent unlocked the door and I stepped inside, it was like being admitted to a magical museum. Just as if the old inhabitants had gone out for a walk and would return home at any moment; the little gaslights were still on the walls, the hollowed-out gourds – used as bowls – were on the tables. There were tiny little wicker chairs to sit on and a mule harness still ready for the mule in the saddle room. There was an empty pig pen for the family pig. A bread oven waiting to receive the uncooked dough. But everything was under layers of dust and blackened with soot because the generations of family that had lived there had always cooked on a fire with no chimney. And most miraculous of all, it turned out the house also had an ancient spring. A steady trickle of water that ran from the bowels of the mountain into a little stone ante chamber and from there down an ancient irrigation channel into a balsa surrounded by fruit trees heavy with luscious persimmon fruit.
How have you masterminded the regeneration project?
During lock down I worked with my son, an architect, Finn Harries to renovate the 500-year-old farm house and we are currently regenerating the 300 000 square metres of terraced land that surrounds it. The farm has 25 beehives and hundreds of new fruit, oak and olive trees, a large permaculture vegetable patch and two vineyards. Ducks and chickens will soon be joined by 5 sheep who will be grazed on a rotation basis. The farm also has an eco-pond, recently the subject of an International Union for the Conservation of Nature report on their key role in supporting unique eco-systems and will be part of a scheme to reintroduce the Balearic Green toad. I am now working with the internationally acclaimed landscape designer, Tom Stuart-Smith (@tomstuartsmith) to pilot an extensive native dry garden around the house to support summer pollinators.
How would you describe your main aim with the project?
The overall concept is to create a case study project for a regenerative approach so seductive in execution and beauty that it helps inspire the wider systems changes so urgently needed now. To this end, the farm is entirely solar powered and makes judicious use of the water that comes from an ancient spring. It will host a variety of events, retreats and workshops with the aim of helping to spread awareness about the pressing importance of ecological restoration on a global scale. The farm produces honey, mirto liqueur, and preserved summer fruit.
Can Pep’s age is so apparent in its exterior structure. The depth of the sloping stone walls – over a metre thick in places – are Moorish in their design, as are the tiny windows, designed to keep out the heat and keep in the warmth. The original beehive oven is typical of the island and has a beautifully irregular surface.
One of our aims throughout was to preserve and celebrate the varied textures of the house, from the rough stone of the walls to the gentle undulations of the lime plaster. We’ve accentuated those elements by introducing textures of our own – woven raffia, hemp and basketwork, for example.
The eco-pond, recently the subject of an International Union for the Conservation of Nature report on their key role in supporting unique eco-systems, will be part of a scheme to reintroduce the Balearic Green toad. It also negates the need for a swimming pool.
Original sabina beams have been restored where possible or else replaced like for like. We opted to keep the very traditional Ibizan layout of the salon, where seating clusters around a partially covered hearth.
While we intentionally kept the interior décor spare to allow the house itself to do the talking, you will find photography books and contemporary art everywhere, all of which is inspired by the natural world. The four photographs are by Karl Blossfeldt, famous for his close up photographs of plants. The book, Ibiza Bohemia, is favourite from the publishing house Assouline.
Ibiza’s traditional fincas were very much built as part of the working farm and are entirely utilitarian by design. These particular steps lead onto a flat roof formerly used for drying fruit and carob in the sun.
We tried to create useful quiet spaces throughout the house that can be used for working, reading or simply retreating. This little study features two large textile artworks by the Marrakech-based Belgian designer LRNCE which are lit from above by a skylight in the roof.
We were delighted to find so much of the original agricultural machinery still left intact. This grain mill is in the corner of what was originally a farm building. The room is now a bedroom with outdoor access.
Ibiza’s traditional fincas were built gradually, with new rooms simply added onto the boxy structure as needed. In this former small bedroom, now a bathroom, natural stone in the wall is reflected by the pebbles on the floor and the carved rock of the basin, creating a calming, grounded space.
The kitchen was a challenge, with no natural light and a huge amount of soot damage. We opened up the ceiling to either side of the fireplace to allow natural light to flood in without altering the original energy of the space.
We used no synthetic elements whatsoever in the restoration of the house. From the handmade lime plaster on the walls to the salvaged and restored wood, the entire home is made from natural, breathable materials.
All photos by Jon Izeta
