September and Colin Moore left Tampa, Florida, for the South of France in 1999 with their three children to escape throw-away culture and lead more considered lives. She’s an artist/designer, he’s a chiropractor with carpentry skills, and together they became practiced hands at resurrecting houses that had been left for dead. Seeing the work they did, “people came to us offering old properties for nothing, for like $15,000,” she says. Which is how one remodel led to another, many of which they sold so they could take on the next.
Their kids are now grown and the couple decided to give a quiet corner of Mallorca a try. We recently spotlighted the abandoned limestone structure in Felanitx that they’ve turned into their current dream house: see Minimalists In Mallorca. “The property was structurally more or less sound but in a very raw state: it was really just empty spaces, but what beautiful spaces,” September tells us. That included an interior courtyard with a stone barn at one end. Here, we’re taking a look at the Moore’s transformation of what had been century-old animal stalls with a loft overhead.
Photography by Clarrisa Cesi, unless noted, all courtesy of September Moore Projects (@septembermooreprojects).
After clearing out and shoring up the interiors, the couple finished the exterior of both limestone structures with two coats of limewash. The terracotta roof tiles are original.
Above: September’s studio overlooks the courtyard and has a built-in window seat. The couple work with local, natural materials and when faced with a choice, they opt for the old-fashioned way.
Of her muted palette, September’s friend designer Hilary Robertson writes, ““September’s trademark colors have always been those chalky, subtle shades reminiscent of Cézanne landscapes and Morandi still lifes.” Photograph by Anna Malmberg.
Above: The barn overlooks the main house and a giant lemon tree, one of the details that sold September on the abandoned property.N.B.: The Moores maintain a toehold in southern France and from time to time rent their Mallorca compound for month-long stretches. Watch for announcements on Instagram @septembermooreprojects. And go to Required Reading to see the Moore’s house near Carcassonne.
Here are three more artful barn conversions:
- How Architects Remodel: A Design Couple Convert an Old Barn into Their Low-Impact Family Home
- Artist Visit: Heather Chontos’s 17th-Century Barn Studio in the Southwest France
- A Once Dormant Stone Barn in the French Countryside, Reimagined by Saba Ghobanalinejad
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