Celebrity hairstylist Geoffrey Flanders and his partner Kevin Austin built their own sacred space in Andalucia

In Spanish La Santera means the guardian of a sanctuary and the maker of religious icons. The name is an obvious choice for the beautiful, tranquil Spanish home of celebrity hair stylist Geoffrey Flanders and his partner Kevin Austin.

The vast seven bedroom finca is built in traditional Andalucian style and oozes a mix of opulence and laidback chic. La Santera stands majestically on a terraced 50 acre hillside, known by locals as the magic mountain due to ley lines that run under the house. They must be doing the trick, as visitors report a feeling of peace and tranquillity in the house. A truly mystical place, the area has been farmed since the 1700’s and traditionally the mother of each generation was a santera, gifted with the power of healing. She also made icons for the local church, hence the name bestowed on the house.

Geoffrey and Kevin had visited the Costa del Sol many times, hoping to find the right type of property to renovate, but it appeared that all potential properties had been snapped up. In desperation they decided to look inland and finally found this plot of land, close to the beautiful mountain village of Gaucin, where La Santera now stands.

Kevin explains, “We heard about this beautiful farm that was for sale and set in 50 acres. The original owner’s brother still runs the farm and as we wanted to keep it going there was no building to convert so we decided to build our own on the plot.

“We did not originally expect to build something so big but it just seemed to evolve through different ideas and because we love to entertain when we are here.

We found a local architect from Ubrique, a town in the national park about 30 minutes drive away. Geoffrey and I had collected a portfolio of cuttings and ideas from a number of interiors and architectural magazines. We also found a coffee table book called ‘Casa California’ that featured examples of houses built for Hollywood stars in the 1920’s, which was extremely helpful.

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