Estate Stories
The Journal
Meet the people who shape The Völkers House – the chef, the stable master, the stonemason, the head housekeeper. Stories from daily life on the estate: rituals, recipes, and moments that reveal the spirit of this place and the people behind it.
Website Illustrations
The Time of Hands
Every illustration on this website has been painted by hand in watercolour. Watercolour has a long tradition in architectural storytelling and shaped how country houses, gardens and interiors were recorded for centuries. Soft layers of pigment let light, stone, fabric and foliage come through with restraint. What began in Holland later flourished in Britain, where the technique was widely used to portray manor houses and estates as lived spaces shaped by season and daily life, preserving mood and atmosphere with lightness and a gentle sense of humour. The illustrations for The Völkers House follow this tradition. They are created by Anna Gehrmann Philippi, Art Director of GG Magazine, who specialises in classical watercolour. Anna came to drawing through photography and uses the practice to express her eye for architecture, nature and animals through close observation, balancing stillness, movement and individuality. At The Völkers House, commissioning paintings reflects a belief that great things are crafted by hand and cannot be replicated. Each illustration records time taken and care given. Discover more of Anna’s work on Instagram here.
The Völkers House Logo
The Sun Motif
The sun emblem originates from the crest of Son Coll, the family home of Christian and Ninon Völkers in Mallorca. For The Völkers House, the original sundial was refined to its core. What once marked the passage of time has become a symbol of light itself. The emblem is often accompanied by the Latin phrase: Orta Sole Vita Nova Incipit – "With the rising sun, a new life begins." It reflects a rhythm: life at the estate follows the daylight. Mornings unfold early; evenings are allowed to linger. Throughout the property, the motif appears in subtle forms – carved into stone, pressed into leather, printed on paper. A signature that marks origin. This spirit anchors The Völkers House – in Mallorca and beyond: rooted in place, unhurried by digital time, attuned to the sun as a constant force.
In Autumn
200 New Olive Trees
In October, 200 old olive trees arrived at The Völkers House. Each weighing close to eight tons, they were carefully transplanted from the mainland to Mallorcan soil where olives have thrived for millennia. Now they complete the estate’s grove — where, at the very same time, the first olive harvest took place.
The southeast of Mallorca has been olive country for over two thousand years. Romans planted the first groves. Generations of farmers shaped the terraces and built the dry-stone walls that still hold the hillsides today. An olive tree can live for a millennium. Its roots reach six meters deep, anchoring it against drought and wind. Its trunk thickens slowly, twisting into forms that look more like sculpture than wood. Silver-gray bark. Leaves that shimmer in the breeze.
They define this landscape. They are this landscape.
A Few Months Ago
Three Giants Arrived
In October, three monumental Ficus elastica trees completed a three-week journey from Barcelona. Weighing 18 tons and spanning nearly 20 meters, they now stand on the estate as if they had always been there. The journey was a feat of logistics and patience. Dismantling streetlights on the mainland, a slow sea voyage, navigating narrow island roads—moving these giants was less engineering, more art. But why ficus elastica? Most people know it as a houseplant. In the wild, it becomes a colossus: 30 meters tall, with column-like aerial roots that anchor it like architecture. Robust, drought-tolerant, its large glossy leaves create a cooling microclimate. Perfect for the Mediterranean. These trees are living sculptures, rooted to last for generations. We are happy to have them.
