A home with a view
The scientist Maria Teresa Escalas lives in Mallorca, overlooking a rocky bay called Cala Santanyí. It is a modernist structure with sharp angles and clear lines but it also blends into the colour scheme of the local coastline.
In the middle of greenery and with a view over the bay
Photo: Jess Smee
This blocky house overlooks a bay of jutting rocks and turquoise waters called Cala Santanyí in Mallorca. Maria Teresa Escalas lives in a modernist villa which has deep family roots. Her grandfather first bought a slice of land in the rocky bay back in 1909 and her father later built this modern structure on the coastal spot in the south of the island.
Like many other buildings on the island, the house is painted ochre and blends with the earthy tones of the landscape - making the building almost invisible from the water.
For the locals, however, Escalas' house, with its precise geometric form, was shocking in how it broke with prevailing styles of the era. But the tourist boom in recent years has refocused local ire towards the blocky shiny white vacation homes that are sprouting up everywhere in the neighbourhood.
In addition to 75-year-old Maria Teresa, several of her siblings also live on the large piece of land in neighbouring houses.
As children, they clambered on nearby rocks together, swam in the bay and navigated the clear waters on small boats. Nowadays, Maria and her relatives are often to be found in their adjoining gardens and greeting each other and sharing gossip.