Introducing London interior designer Hollie Bowden’s San Carlos project; a reimagined farmhouse (Finca) with guest villas on the island of Ibiza.
Hollie Bowden has earned a global reputation for layering interiors with an eclectic mix of old and new. This reputation, procured through extensive travel, has taken her from her London studio to the Balearic Islands off Eastern Spain.
Hollie Bowden’s San Carlos project takes its name from the small village in the quieter corner of Ibiza, known for its laid-back lifestyle and hippie heritage. Here in San Carlos, the designer was tasked with refurbishing a country estate and guest villas, spanning eight bedrooms with en suites, as well as a gym, sauna and cinema. Surrounded by tropical gardens, Hollie’s interiors articulate down-to-earth comfort and unexpected grandeur, bringing natural materials, antique objects and the work of local artisans to the fore.
Hollie met the client through mutual friends, who admired her pared-down yet unexpected aesthetic. Her brief was simply to create a beautiful environment, that felt relaxed, homely and in keeping with the Ibizan atmosphere. “A key thing we discussed from the offset was to replace all the doors,” Hollie explains. “We needed to change certain architectural features, to bring it back to the older Finca style.
It was the first project Hollie had been approached to complete on the island, which she’d been visiting for years. She says her travels had already piqued ideas on how she would approach an Ibizan project. “The house really spoke to me,” she says. “The first time we went to see the old farmhouse I had a strong sense of it from the get-go.”
Surrounded by lush gardens, Hollie recalls the home already had the character of a ‘bohemian-paradise’. This springboard, coupled with the designer’s emphasis on depth and texture, led to a mix of raw, traditional and sculptural motifs. To achieve this, Hollie worked closely with local tradespeople, craftsmen and makers. An earthy palette, soft-edges, exposed timber beams, concrete floors and greenery permeate each space, while the curves of the fireplaces are mirrored in each of the ensuites.
The interiors are a highly considered blend of the bygone and contemporary. “I let the pieces I found guide me,” Hollie admits. “I started curating antiques and found these beautiful tapestries for the walls and it just came together really organically; it was completely intuitive”. Hollie says she filled the home with antiques from all over Europe, from antique dealers to flea markets and online, via 1stDibs. Key pieces in the San Carlos project are sourced from Morocco, Paris, Belgium, London and Italy.
A testament to Hollie’s highly curated approach, the San Carlos project echoes the local Ibizan context, with a worldly design lens.
