July 2026 | TRAVEL
BENEDICTA & BENOÎT’S
Utopian Paradise
words Onur Baştürk
For London-based Benedicta Linares Pearce, her dream was always one thing: to stay in touch with Menorca, the place where she was born. Benedicta’s dream and her devotion to the island were shared by her husband Benoît, who, soon after his first trip to Menorca, fell “under the mysterious pull of the island”. Eventually, the couple bought two ‘finca’ (Spanish for “estate”) in the heart of the island. They launched the first ‘finca’, Es Bec d’Aguila, in 2018 and the second, Son Blanc Farmhouse, an eco-sustainable hotel, in 2023.
For London-based Benedicta Linares Pearce, her dream was always one thing: to stay in touch with Menorca, the place where she was born. Benedicta’s dream and her devotion to the island were shared by her husband Benoît, who, soon after his first trip to Menorca, fell “under the mysterious pull of the island”. Eventually, the couple bought two ‘finca’ (Spanish for “estate”) in the heart of the island. They launched the first ‘finca’, Es Bec d’Aguila, in 2018 and the second, Son Blanc Farmhouse, an eco-sustainable hotel, in 2023.
Benedicta and Benoît transformed a traditional farmhouse into a self-sufficient model and spent five years working on this utopian community-based eco-hotel. All the while, they challenged themselves to achieve a real impact on climate change.
The couple’s coincidental meeting with architect Anne- Cecile Comar, co-founder of Atelier du Pont, is another integral element of the Son Blanc story. Anne-Cecile, who is emotionally attached to Menorca like Benedicta and Benoît, used local materials to design the hotel, including Menorcan clay, reclaimed wood from a Spanish monastery, marès, the local limestone, and ceramics. Traditional architectural features were retained, including wide floor slabs, arched openings, and vaulted ceilings.
TRAIL WALKS & GONG BATH
The local stone and the landscapes it forms are the most striking aspects of both the island and Son Blanc. Walking along the trails, accompanied by low stone walls, is the most wonderful thing you can do during your stay in Son Blanc. Not just a walk, of course. Whether it’s yoga, meditation, or taking a gong bath and traveling through other dimensions... Or doing nothing at all and sunbathing by the pool overlooking the sea carved into the rock is another alternative.
A PRIMITIVE AND FESTIVE CULINARY EXPERIENCE
Son Blanc’s cuisine is centered on simple, healthy, authentic, and local dishes. Indeed, they describe their cuisine as “primitive and festive”. Inspired by the earth and the sea, raw, fire-cooked, or pickled ingredients are served in a sparkling, salty, Mediterranean, vibrant, and spontaneous presentation. On the other hand, the hotel’s ecological practices are not merely in words.
- They adopt zero waste. For this, they apply the composting method.
- They resort to innovative systems to reduce consumption. Radiant ceiling panels used to heat and cool the building, and the nine geothermal wells...
WE DESIRE TO DO THINGS ON OUR OWN SMALL SCALE, FOR BIG CHANGES
Surrounded by endemic species of wild olive trees and pines, Son Blanc offers 15 rooms. As Benedicta and Benoit say, “This is more than a hotel; it is a family cottage that reconnects us to our essence, to our natural and social environment, and above all to ourselves”. Benoit has one more remarkable thing to say about Son Blanc, which he calls “a family journey”: “Our daughter, now eight years old, has grown up with this project and believes that Son Blanc is the fourth child in the family. In a way, she’s right. Because Son Blanc Farmhouse is the embodiment of a family journey. It is a way of molding the ambitions and dreams of Benedicta and me. It is also a way to share our environmental and social values with our children and other people. We just have a desire to do things on our own small scale to help with the big changes that the world needs to undertake”.
