Cala d’Or is a small town located on the South East coast of the island of Mallorca, it is just an hour’s drive from the bustling capital city of Palma. Cala d’Or over the many decades has grown, developed and changed; from what was originally an abundance of rocks and desolate land around the 1930’s, to what we see today, a busy pedestrian centre surrounded by wonderful coves of white sandy beaches and blue waters.
This development was attributed to a man named Don Josep Costa Ferrer, also known as Don Pep Costa. He was born in Ibiza, and came across the Mediterranean looking for an adventure. Don Pep was an artist, an illustrator and an architect, amongst other professions. It was during one of his searches for an adventure that he chanced upon Cala d’Or, which he originally named Cala D’Hort, as it reminded him of his hometown in Ibiza. It was not until some years later that Cala D’Hort was renamed to the more commercial name of Cala d’Or.
As Cala d’Or was being developed Don Pep Costa wanted to imitate the Ibicencan architecture, so evolved the low-rise cubic shaped houses, with flat roofs and whitewashed walls and green painted shutters. All this surrounded by pine trees, to replicate his homeland of Ibiza.
In Cala d’Or today some parts still retain this simplistic beauty, with many of the houses that have been built, since Don Pep, endeavouring to preserve this Ibicencan architecture; one of the best examples is Fernandos Restaurant. Also at Fowlers Hotel there are some copies of the original plans, of Don Pep Costa’s designs, with the prices of the houses and building plots!