Details of the Prizes
More specific information about the accommodations, and
a chance for us to use the photos we didn’t think were
good enough to put elsewhere on the site.
The Grand Prize: Volto House
“Volto” means condor in English. All of the accommodations are named for the birds that are to be seen in the woods and on the terraces surrounding the property. N.B. The locals refer to the terraces as Roman, but personally I don’t think they are more than a few hundred years old. Perhaps there once were ancient terraces here but I’d guess they have long since been built over.
Volto’s sitting room, with a glimpse of the sun terrace.
At any rate, this house is the largest, with two bedrooms, two baths, two terraces, kitchen and sitting room. It’s located at the top of the complex, a few steps down from the car park (every winner gets a private parking place).
There is a fireplace in the sitting room, TV, DVD player, satellite connection (though mainly to Spanish and German stations given the placement of the satellite).
Just down the steps from the sitting room terrace there is a large communal terrace with a barbecue that can be shared by any of the three villas.
The private terrace table seats four or six and is shaded until after midday.
One of the most practical aspects of this house is that it splits easily into essentially two separate units, since the second bedroom and bath and terrace are separated from the rest of the house by a lockable door. Both of the beds are king-sized, and one of them can be separated to make two single beds.
Until a month or so ago you could have bought this property through the agents Knight Frank for 575,000 euros.
Second Prize: Cuculla House
“Cuculla” is a pretty word for a cuckoo. For us, this one is the house we’ve recommended for honeymooners because it has a second terrace off the bedroom, with a little raised section where we think the new owner should put a hot tub. We couldn’t because the new municipal water system won’t be in until later this year and we can’t get permission until the new larger-gauge mains system is in operation.
This terrible photo of the bedroom conveys none of the room’s charm.
It’s a duplex, with the entrance via a terrace into the sitting room, the kitchen up a short flight of steps, and then another few steps up to the top level with the bathroom, bedroom with a separable king bed, and second terrace. The photo elsewhere on the site of the two deck chairs looking at the view was taken from that terrace.
Elsewhere on the site there's another photo, showing the fireplace and the steps to upstairs.
The house could have been purchased via Knight Frank for 475,000 euros.
Third Prize: Colom House
Out of sight to the left is an additional small uncovered terrace for sunbathing.
A “Colom” is a dove, and they do come to visit regularly. This villa has an entrance from the front terrace, though it also has a door at the side, opening out onto a path that connects to the long flight of steps that bound the property and leads down into the village. The sitting room is generously proportioned and has a woodstove and a long case clock, which is valuable but regrettably doesn’t tick. Just off the terrace there’s a big kitchen and dining area. The bathroom is opposite the bedroom with king bed, and there is a separate door from the bedroom, opening out onto the terrace with the barbecue.
Pity you can’t see through to the comfy bedroom – I overexposed.
The agency price for this one would have been 425,000 euros.
Fourth Prize: Studio Gorrio
Oddly, I’ve not seen many “Gorrios” – sparrows – hereabouts. Many exotic birds, especially during the migration seasons, but fewer of the more ordinary birds, though perhaps they’re so familiar I don’t notice them anymore.
But that’s not telling you about the studio, which is the only one to have its own separate sitting room, directly adjacent to the private terrace. There’s a kitchenette, bath, and bedroom with a splittable king bed. The doors to the terrace fold back so that during the day you can open them up and have a perfect view down the valley to the sea without moving from your bed.
Yes, sorry, I know I used this photo elsewhere but the others were
only detail shots.
This studio and the next three listed here are located one flight down the steps from the houses described above.
Sold separately, this studio suite would have retailed for 350,000 euros. Can you believe these prices!
But because this is one of the most desirable locations on the island the local house prices are simply staggering.
Fifth Prize: Studio “Pinza”
“Pinzas” are finches, and at times there seem to be plenty of them about. They like the decrepit deserted windmill in the woods nearby.
Our guests get breakfast on a tray until noon. You could do the same.
Studio Pinza has a generous kitchen, separate from the rest of the bed/sitting room area. The bed is a splittable king, and there is a nice woodstove in the corner. Big sliding doors open to the terrace and bring the view inside.
Pinza has one of the largest of the private terraces.
This studio was also valued at 350,000 euros.
Sixth Prize: Studio “Estornell”
I’ve never seen an “Estornell” up here, not one. They’re starlings, and since starlings can be noisy in groups, I’m not sorry.
Entering the studio, the kitchen is on the right, and the bathroom is more or less straight ahead. The big bed/sitting room is to the left, with a woodstove in the corner on the right. The separable king bed is opposite the sliding doors to the terrace.
Another one I overexposed, so you can’t see the terrace to the right.
This is the third of the larger studios that were valued at 350,000 euros.
Seventh Prize: Studio “Oriol”
The one name English speakers could guess at. An "Oriol" is - ta-daaa! - an oriole. I've never seen one here, though that doesn't mean anything since they're shy.
I actually have a better photo of this studio but can’t find it anywhere. Apologies.
This is the first of the smaller studios, though exceedingly perfectly formed, to steal the old cliché. You enter from a entranceway next to Studio Pinza and the bath and the kitchenette are on the left and the bed/sitting room is straight ahead. The bed can be split into two singles, an advantage when renting the property. The terrace wraps around two sides of the main room and opens on one side out onto the lawn with the hammock – a hammock I can warmly recommend, having spent more than a handful of hours enjoying its pleasure (for me a guilty pleasure, as I invariably should have been working).
This one was estimated to go for 250,000 euros.
Eighth Prize: Studio “Musol”
Some Mallorquins spell “Musol” with two s’s, but then there are lots of words they can’t agree the spelling of. What they do agree on is that a Musol, or even a Mussol, is an owl, and we currently have two owls in residence nearby, ghostly transient smears against the evening sky as they glide silently across the dark terraces.
You may be getting the impression by now that we like blue and white.
This studio suite overlooks the pool on the next level down, and is as cosy as any of the accommodations. The kitchenette is next to the door, the bathroom is around the corner, and the bed/sitting room has a queen bed. The terrace is reached through doors at the far end of the room. There is a decorative woodstove, but we don’t know if it’s connected to the flue. We don’t think anyone has burned anything in it for years.
This isn’t the view of the pool from the property, but it’s close.
The agents put a price of 275,000 euros on the property.
Ninth Prize: Studio “Rupitt”
Same Mallorquin spelling problem as above – I’ve seen it with both one and two t’s. Who cares, it’s a robin, and this studio is as pert and pretty as any robin – English robin that is, not those lumbering behemoths one sees across the water.
All the bedcovers are handblocked Indian prints. The pillow covers, too.
At any rate, the accommodation has a four-poster queen bed, the usual kitchenette – fully equipped with microwave, stove, sink, ample crockery and cutlery and proper kitchen knives, fridge, and everything else needed to prepare a proper meal. This isn’t camping.
The terrace is ample and overlooks the pool as well as the general view.
Knight Frank would have sold this one for 275,000 euros if we’d allowed them to.
Tenth Prize: Studio “Titina”
Sorry, try as we might, we cannot find out what a “Titina” is. It’s not in the dictionaries and the Mallorquins that we have asked simply shrug and tell us it’s a “small bird.” Gee – what a lot of help that is!
Still, the studio is like a small and comely bird, just down some steps near the kitchen, with a bath to the right, the kitchenette around the corner, and a queen bed in the bed/sitting room.
Wish we had a shot of the two palm trees to show you. Glorious!
This is the only terrace that has even the slightest obstruction of the view to the sea. In this case neighbour Terry's tall pine gets in the way, and although he offered to be cooperative about topping the offending branches, neither of us has ever got around to doing it. Maybe it's because the view is still lovely, what with the twin palm trees below and the terraces to the right, or maybe it's simply because a door on the terrace opens onto the breakfast room terrace, unused all day, and it has one of the widest unobstructed panoramas to the sea of any of the terraces. So up until now it has just seemed easier to push our deck chairs four feet to the left and drink in the view from there rather than don the climbing boots, get out the chainsaw and get up that tree trunk. But maybe you're more ambitious.
All the bathrooms look pretty much like this one – same design.
The agents told us to ask 225,000 euros for this accommodation.
