Can Lloeta (Can Malonda)

Description

The façade comprises three floors and portal with a large semicircular archway. To the left, the house features a corner arch on calle de Can Dusai. On the piano nobile, there are four balconies and an additional fifth balcony on the other side of that street. An impost divides the upper porch, which has 15 windows in total. The façade is topped off with wooden eaves. The entrance has a coffered wooden ceiling with two transverse sections. To the left, a marble balustrade staircase takes us up to the study doorway. Two basket-handle arches, supported by a free-standing red marble column decorated with ionic capitals and geometric floral motifs, lead the way to the open courtyard. A second column supports two longitudinal sections of coffering on the right. A great marble balustrade staircase can be found at the back. To the left of the courtyard, a small doorway leads to a further courtyard featuring an octagonal well decorated with an iron cross.

History

In the year 1736 the house belonged to the High Court judge Miguel Malonda y Pons de la Parra. Ramón de Villalonga y Rossiñol de Zagranada (1767-1850) married Maria del Carmen de Aguirre y Malonda. The house, therefore, passed into the possession of the Villalonga family, and became known as Can Villalonga-Aguirre. Around 1872, Archduke Luis Salvador mentioned the balconies decorated with railings and the modern courtyard. Josep de Villalonga Aguirre y Alemany sold the house to the merchant Joan Villalonga y Jordá (Murray-Pascual, 77), who is registered as its owner in the amended electoral roll for the year 1864. The records state that the house was located on plot number 43 and was owned by Mr. Joan Villalonga y Jordá, "merchant and proprietor", whose estate was worth some 10,766 Mallorcan pounds (Municipal Archive of Palma, 1060).
The house was subject to reforms in the 19th century, and the white marble staircase dates back to this period.

Reference:

- Habsburg-Lorena: La ciudad de Palma (The City of Palma), 83

- Gambús-Massanet, 1987, 50

- Murray-Pascual, 1999, p. 77

- GEM X, 89; GEM XVIII, 174