Barry's unfinished Majorcan mansion

JOHN Barry, the English composer who died earlier this week aged 77, has left behind an unfinished mansion in Santa Margalida.
Barry, who was responsible for the musical scores for many of the James Bond films, along with those for Out of Africa, Born Free and Dancing with Wolves, came to the municipality at the start of the 1970s. It was his wife, Jane Birkin who introduced him to the French count, Bourdillon de Queylar who lived at the Sa Capella country estate where Barry finally went in search of a piano.

Jet set parties at Sa Capella also attracted Barry's attention. Guests had included the internationally renowned Catalan artist Joan Miro, actors Lex Baker and Richard Harris, and aristocrats Beatrice of the Netherlands and Simeon of Bulgaria.

Barry felt at home in Santa Margalida and decided to buy land on the Son Femenia country estate, some 100 metres from the town and very close to Sa Capella where his friends lived.

John Barry was never to see his dream home - or rather his mansion - completed.
No-one in Santa Margalida knew what became of the English composer who had been regarded as something of a legend in his own life time.
The property was just left standing and the stages of the mansion which had been finished by builders deteriorated over time. Barry's daughter apparently came to Santa Margalida several years ago and said that her father would return, but in fact he never did.

Now that Barry has died, it remains to be seen what his family intends to do with the property which had never become home for any of them.