The restored property is in the oldest part of the island’s capital, a designated Unesco World Heritage Site
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A historic home in an Unesco World Heritage Site on the Spanish island of Ibiza has come to the market €10.8 million (US$11.7 million).
Dating to the 16th century, Palacio XI is in Dalt Vila—the oldest quarter in Ibiza Town, the island’s capital—which was designated a heritage site in 1999. The fortified enclave is a labyrinth of narrow, cobbled streets, ancient buildings and stunning views.
The four-storey home was acquired by the seller when it was in ruins and they embarked on a thorough restoration between 2014 and 2018, according to a spokesperson for the listing agency Charles Marlow Ibiza.
Mansion Global couldn’t identify the seller, or when or for how much they acquired the property.
Today, the house is a “blend of historic Ibiza charm and contemporary luxury,” said Tim Stacey, head of sales and rentals at Charles Marlow Ibiza. There are details like stone walls, tall beamed ceilings and grand stone arches, alongside features including an integrated sound system, comfort cooling and underfloor heating.
There’s a modern kitchen with a wine cooler, a dining room that opens out to the large main terrace, the pool area and a covered outdoor dining area, ideal for al-fresco entertaining.
There are also multiple living spaces, a roof terrace, a for-vehicle carport with EV charging, six bedrooms and “superb 360-degree views of Ibiza Town, the island, and Formentera [that] are truly breathtaking,” Stacey said.
Ibiza is considered one of the top luxury residential destinations globally, according to Knight Frank’s Prime International Residential Index, released earlier this year, which found prime property prices on the island rose 12% in 2023.
“Ibiza’s strength lies in its ability to provide an escape from metropolitan life,” said Jack Harris, a partner in Knight Frank’s International Residential team . “It’s a place where one can recharge the batteries (yoga is a staple on the island), enjoy world-class cuisine and reconnect with nature—whether on the beach or in the heart of the island’s countryside.”
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Kit Braden, an executive at French beauty empire L’Occitane, has spent every winter for the past 13 years at the stone vacation home.
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A historic Barbados estate with a 300-year-old villa and 11 acres overlooking the Caribbean Sea is now for sale with a guide price of $22.5 million.
The seller is Kit Braden, chairman of the U.K. branch of French beauty empire L’Occitane Group, whose family has spent every winter for the last 13 years at the island property, known as Fustic Estate.
“It’s very much a family house,” Braden said. “We love having a lot of people there. It’s a collection point to keep everyone together.”
The main villa dates to 1712, though it’s been reimagined and expanded substantially over the years.
It spans 13,000 square feet and features seven en suite bedrooms across three wings, as well as expansive verandas, stone courtyards and rows of louvered doors in gay Caribbean pastels.
In the 1970s, when the home was owned by Charles Graves—brother of British poet Robert Graves—it was reimagined by stage designer Oliver Messel, one of the foremost theater designers of the last century. Messel expanded the home, added a lagoon pool with a natural waterfall and other theatrical features, according to Braden.
“The whole place is a little bit magical,” he said.
The home sits about 350 feet above the water, and surrounded by lush gardens that slope towards the water.
“We look down through our garden—which is about 12 acres of tropical gardens and palm trees and wonderful old mahogany trees—onto the Caribbean,” Braden said.
He and his wife first saw the property on New Year’s Eve 2013, during a quick trip from where they were staying in Grenada.
The couple spent an hour walking the perimeter, some of it still untouched jungle, in the pouring rain.
“By the time we got back, I had fallen in love with it,” Braden said.
His wife, however, wasn’t so sure. But in Braden’s telling, a second visit in sunnier weather with two of their children brought her around.
“She had to be talked into that it was a jolly good idea; now she absolutely loves it,” he said.
When they bought the property, the edge that runs along the waterfront was a jungle, so they cleared the ridge and transformed it into gardens.
They also bought an additional sea-level parcel with two beach cottages, giving the property direct access to the water and the town below via a five-minute walk.
The property also has a 15-person staff, a reflecting pond, an outdoor pavilion suitable for yoga and a commercial grade kitchen that can serve more than 100 guests, according to a brochure from Knight Frank, which posted the listing in March. They did not provide further comment.
For Braden, the property is special because of its natural beauty, its proximity to the town of Saint Lucy and its history—which dates way way back to when the island of Barbados was first formed via tectonic activity.
“It was basically tectonic plates that collided about a million years ago so the seabed is the top of the hill,” Braden said. “We’re on coral rock.”
As a result, Fustic Estate includes an extensive network of caves that were likely used by the Arawaks, a Venezuelan fishing tribe that followed the fish to these islands about a thousand years ago.
“If the fish were good they’d camp here,” Braden said. “There’s evidence that they stayed there in those caves, they lived there in good winters.”
Now it’s someone else’s turn to live on the land shared by Arawaks, the plantation owners of 1712, Charles Graves and the Braden brood.
