Villa Es Cubells

A collaboration between a Barcelona architecture practice and the owner's collection of mid-century Scandinavian furniture, Villa Es Cubells is one of the few contemporary builds on Ibiza's protected southern coastline. Floor-to-ceiling glass walls retract fully, erasing the boundary between the open-plan living space and the cantilevered terrace 80 metres above the water. The heated pool sits at the cliff edge with views toward Formentera. The architecture is bold by any standard, but on Ibiza's south coast - where planning restrictions are among the strictest in the Balearics - it is remarkable. The build took five years to approve and three to complete. The Barcelona practice designed the house as a series of concrete planes that appear to hover above the cliff, anchored by a single core of raw concrete that houses the stairwell and utilities. Everything else is glass, steel, and the Ibizan sky. The furniture collection gives the property its personality. The living room holds a pair of Hans Wegner Ox chairs, a Finn Juhl Poet sofa, and an Arne Jacobsen Egg chair positioned to face the sea. The dining table is a 3-metre slab of Danish oak seating 12. These are not reproductions - the owner has been collecting since the 1990s, and several pieces have exhibition provenance. Five bedrooms occupy the upper level, each with a glass wall that slides open to a private balcony. The master suite extends the full width of the house and includes a freestanding copper bathtub with a direct sightline to Formentera. Blackout blinds are integrated into the ceiling cavity, allowing total darkness for sleep despite the glass-heavy design. The heated pool is set into the cantilevered terrace at the cliff edge. Swimming here feels like being suspended in air above the Mediterranean. A sun deck surrounds the pool on three sides, and a lower level reached by a steel staircase provides a shaded lounge area cut into the cliff face. Es Cubells village, three minutes' drive uphill, has two restaurants and the small Iglesia de Es Cubells - and not much else. That remoteness is the point. The nearest bustling area is San Jose, 15 minutes away, with a selection of restaurants and boutiques. Cala Jondal and its beach restaurants are 10 minutes by car.