La Formentera The Woodland Refuge of Juan Montoya

In the 1970s, the renowned interior designer Juan Montoya lived for a year on La Formentera, one of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean off the coast of Spain. There he fell in love with the landscape and particularly the network of stone walls that crossed the terrain. After moving his design practice to New York from Paris, Montoya began a quest for property that could evoke aspects of the rocky terrain without the Mediterranean climate. Eventually he settled on land near Garrison, New York, where he has built an elegantly simple Japanese-style house and shaped the land immediately surrounding it. Setting out on the paths, guests encounter massive stone sculpture created by Montoya, an inviting pool complex, and rustic shelters made of rough stone. Running through the property is a rushing brook that empties into a lake with a small island where thousands of daffodils bloom in the spring. La Formentera is the perfect refuge for Montoya, whose credo is I want to be surrounded by beauty and creativity. Photographer Eric Piasecki has captured this unique place in all seasons, from deep greens of summer to the golden leaves of fall to the pristine snow drifts of winter to