About 40 kilometres from Palma, sheltered by the Tramuntana mountain range, sits an estate that former US ambassador to Spain James Costos and interior designer Michael Smith call their favourite place in the world. The house previously belonged to the well-known landscape architect Isabel Carvajal, and they bought it two years ago after renting it for several summers and falling in love with the island.

The story does not begin in Mallorca but in Mexico, more than twenty years ago. In a chance conversation among friends in Acapulco they were told the island was a beautiful place and that people go there every year. The enthusiasm was enough to make them visit. A few years later they found this estate, rented it for a month at a time in 2014 and 2015, learned the owner was thinking of selling and, when the moment came, bought it.

The renovation that never happened

This is the part that most surprises anyone who has watched a renovation reality show. There was no major redesign. The reason is twofold: Mallorca's planning rules are very strict, and the house simply did not call for it. It was built in the nineties with a fairly contemporary design, open to the garden and well laid out. The exterior stayed as it was. Inside, only the kitchen, the bathrooms and the bedrooms were reworked.

That is a lesson routinely skipped here. Every second house bought here is first stripped back to the walls, and then something with no relation to its surroundings goes up. Here, the most expensive decision was not to touch the exterior.

Inside: tiles, chandeliers and other families' ancestors

The interior is unmistakably Smith's work; he is regarded as one of the most respected interior designers in the world. Fabrics and wallpapers from his own line, a carefully chosen colour palette, noble materials. Tiles with Andalusian inspiration sit alongside imposing crystal chandeliers, delicate bronze grilles, a marble fireplace with a baroque gilded mirror above it and a rococo headboard in one of the bedrooms.

The house also holds a collection of historic portraits of elegantly dressed aristocrats, bought at auctions and art fairs in the years the couple lived in Spain. In the great salon, covered by a barrel vault, a monumental wall mural inspired by Mallorcan tradition holds a conversation between the island's art, architecture and history.

The garden is the only thing still changing

The garden has orchards and olive groves around green lawns, two symmetrical beds of white roses, a cascading waterfall, gravel paths and an English-style box hedge maze. It is also the only part of the project that is not finished, because it is alive.

They recently installed an artisanal press to make their own olive oil. They planted the olive trees three years ago and the oil turned out very well, green and slightly peppery. They make limoncello from their lemons and marmalade from their oranges. There is one wish for the future too: dogs in the house.

An island that is not internationalised

When Costos explains why he stays here, he delivers the most precise sentence about the whole island: "Mallorca is very international, but it is not internationalised." That is a distinction every Balkan destination chasing tourism ought to write on a wall. The island has a solid culture, a deep sense of identity and a real community, and is still connected to the world.

Their life here is simple: walks around the estate, trips to small towns and markets, long lunches and dinners outdoors. When they are on the island, they plan nothing in advance. Sometimes they get in the car to discover the Tramuntana villages, stop on the way, find an unknown destination. Sometimes they pass through a village celebrating its patron saint's day, with lights in the square, a band and people enjoying themselves with their families - and they join the celebration as though they had been friends forever.

The Spain that changed a biography

Costos was US ambassador to Spain from 2013 to 2017, appointed at the request of then President Barack Obama. "Spain changed my life," he says. "I came as a representative of the United States... Over time, Spain stopped being a professional destination and became an inseparable part of my life."

Leaving at the end of his term was emotional, but the connection did not end. He went on working in media and entertainment as chairman of a production company in Madrid, and is involved with several organisations in the US - from advocacy for LGBTQ+ equality to gun violence prevention.

Twenty-six years that began on a plane

The couple have been together for almost 26 years. They met on a flight from Los Angeles to New York, did not sit next to each other, talked a little on the plane and rather more while waiting for luggage at the airport. That is where they exchanged contacts. The first year was long distance - one in New York, the other in Los Angeles.

Asked what holds the relationship together, Smith says they are very different, with their own interests and curiosities, but that on the essential things they always agree. "We share the core values and the things we love. And we have a lot of fun together."

Two summers ago Smith celebrated his 60th birthday here, with friends arriving from every corner of the world. What moved Costos most was not the party but the sight of people from very different stages of their lives gathered as though they were one family. "We have lost the fear of mixing our friends," Smith adds.

That, in the end, is the whole point of this house. It is not a trophy but a place where people stay longer than they planned. How many homes here are built to that measure, and how many to show the neighbours?