Breathtaking summer house in Paros Cyclades Greece

This sensational summer house is situated in the eastern part of the island of Paros Cyclades in Greece. Designed by inteiror designer Alexandros Logodotis, the home has been declared a nature of traditional Cycladic architecture with a minimal modern presentation, which fits the personality of the owners. Daylight reveals the plasticity of white colors as watercolors which have spread in selected areas, while at night the lights in headlights and other details throughout the building becomes a supernatural setting, hovering over the pool. The orientation is east and spaces organized in turn by the sun to “live” the best of their era: the outdoor kitchen has shade in the afternoon to be able to enjoy a meal in peace.

The building appears as a volume configured by touch, without straight and tight corners – as if it was slowly carved over time, with the wind and rain. The smooth curves and holes, the white Cycladic which eliminates the strong light and color harmonies, is what characterizes the area “breathe” the breeze coming through the openings. The center of gravity of the house seems to be the staircase, which stands like a sculpture. Patiti, gray concrete alternating with sand-colored marble tiling and signage in the area around the pool, covers the floors. The minimal house design is ideal for anyone who wants simplicity; the atmosphere is something ethereal mixed with the water elements. Designed installations include built-in shelves in the living room, an abstract dining room buffet and built beds.

Photos: Ioanna Nikolareizi

Charming tiny bungalow house overlooking Puget Sound

The Bayside Bungalow is a cozy micro-cabin located in Olympia, Washington overlooking the Puget Sound. This tiny house was built on an 18 foot flatbed trailer based on a slightly modified Tumbleweed Fencl plan. The interior has 100 square feet of space on the main floor with an additional 60 square foot loft. The sleeping loft, accessed by a ladder, is above the kitchen, closet and bathroom, which has a small shower. Two skylights and 11 windows allow plenty of natural light into the house. A window seat is built in for cozying up with a blanket and good book while watching birds play in the garden. A stainless steel fireplace warms the house. The cathedral ceiling makes the tiny home feel quite spacious. A tiny 2’ x 2’ porch faces the Puget Sound, covering the entrance to a beautiful, cedar door.

If you want to experience this tiny house for yourself, prices range from $65 – $95/night, or $395 – $495 weekly, from here.

Photos: The Bayside Bungalow

Balinese-influenced Villa Kishti in Anguilla

Villa Kishti is a meditative, Balinese-inspired private retreat in Anguilla, British West Indies, designed by Toronto architect Frank Alfred Hamilton, who spent four years on the project (2005-2009). The residence challenges traditional notions of shelter and nature as separate domains, with interior and exterior blurred in a seamless interplay of interior design, architecture and landscape design.

Villa Kishti’s tripartite design is composed of a central hub, master suite and three self-contained villas, arranged in fan-like plan. The central hub contains the principal gathering spaces of the residence – the living-dining area and kitchen – which flow into each other in a unified palette of natural materials, tones and textures. Spaces are uncluttered and carefully calibrated to enhance site lines. The living-dining area is detailed with custom furnishings and edited accessories while the kitchen is fitted with custom millwork and integrated Corian counters and backsplash. Toronto-based interior design firm Cecconi Simone Inc. was hired by the client for the selection of furnishings, finishes and fixtures.

The master suite, accessed internally from the living-dining area, contains a sleep area, lounge with outdoor terrace and en-suite with indoor and outdoor showers. The suite is appointed with custom millwork, custom furnishings and subtle Balinese accents.

Across the central hub from the master suite, each of the three self-contained villas encompasses a lounge area with outdoor deck, kitchenette, powder room and master bedroom with en-suite. Custom furnishings, custom millwork, finishes and accessories harmonize with the subdued, contemporary, Balinese-influenced expression of the rest of the residence.

Luxurious Chalet Spa Blanche in Verbier

Feast your eyes on this luxury ski chalet packed with fabulous spa facilities, high tech gadgets and sumptuous furnishings. Chalet Spa Blanche is a delightful timber chalet that blends in well with the alpine scenery, nestling in the smart Swiss resort of Verbier. This residence combines a bright, high tech contemporary interior with a traditional wooden chalet design. Everything about it is hyper-luxurious, from the Bose sound system and home cinema room to the mirrors that turn into TV screens at the touch of a button. With four bedrooms, the chalet can accommodate up to nine people.

In the living room, located on the top floor, the central fireplace adds to the room’s very modern feel thanks to its mantelpiece decorated with mirrors. It has a hearth that is level with the floor. The living room, with a superbly equipped open-plan kitchen, opens onto a large covered terrace furnished with magnificent sofas and a table that can seat up to 10 people. Zen artwork and sculptures enhance the magnificent design of the chalet. The chalet has the exclusive use of the spa, with treatment room, sauna, steam room, plunge pool, hammam and a fully-equipped gym area, offers a large bay window overlooking the terrace with a large jacuzzi with “swim against the current”.

Rates start from $33,011 per week, from here.

All four beautifully furnished bedrooms have en-suite bathroom facilities and two of the bedrooms can connect.

The chalet is equipped with a lovely cinema and games room with a dart board and European billiards table.  The fabulous wine cellar adds a superb finishing touch.

Out on the enormous covered balcony, you can round off the evening on comfy chairs with a warming Cognac, looking out over the twinkling lights of Verbier. You might even be tempted to slip into the huge swim spa on the decking below.

Timber holiday houses in Leis, Switzerland

A beautiful timber residence in the mountainous region of Leis, Switzerland has become available to rent. For the first time ever, Peter and Annalisa Zumthor are opening up one of their cozy holiday homes in this quiet hamlet to the public, enabling them to rent The Unterhus for weeks at a time. The owners, Peter and Annalisa Zumthor describe their project: “In 2009 we built two timber houses, the Oberhus and the Unterhus, in the hamlet of Leis, just over 1,500m above sea level in the community of Vals in Grisons. From 1 December 2012 onward we are letting out the Unterhus for vacations. A third timber house, the Turmlihus, will soon complete this little ensemble. The Turmlihus will welcome its first guests in autumn 2013. We are very much looking forward to having guests in our timber vacation homes in Leis.”

To rent one of the Zumthor Ferienhäuser holiday homes, prices range from CHF 3,500 to CHF 4,800 per week, from here.

A tiny hamlet of around 20 people, Leis is a remote community set in the soaring mountains of Vals, south-east Switzerland. During the winter months, the area is doused in thick snow with opportunities to ski or gather round the fire of Leis’ only inn, whilst in the warmer seasons two families tend the mountain meadows.

The timber-clad Unterhus property has four-and-a-half rooms and sleeps four to five. With a total area of 150 square meters, it extends over three floors with the top floor advertised as ‘an enclosed viewing platform with a balcony facing southwest’. Floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides provide uninterrupted views across the mountainous landscape, also viewable from the southwest-facing bedroom on the middle floor.

There are two bedrooms to choose from, one with a king-size bed and the other with two generous single beds which can be pushed together to form a double. A writing desk and day bed occupy the study which can be used as a workspace or additional bedroom, and the lounge on the top floor features a traditional wood-burning soapstone stove for added warmth.

The Türmlihus, which will take in its first guests in the autumn of 2013, has three-and-a-half rooms and sleeps four. With a total area of 128 square meters, it extends across three floors. Both houses have furniture and designer lighting. The kitchens are fully equipped, including an Italian coffee machine, steamer, fondue set, and raclette grill. Each house is fully equipped with all of the modern electronic amenities one could possibly need.

Incredible mountain retreat in Whistler: Belmont Estate

 The Belmont Estate is perched on the mountain side, allowing for unobstructed jaw-dropping views across the valley’s ski runs in Whistler, British Columbia. This private chalet is incredibly spacious boasting over 8,072 square feet (750 square meters) of living space with a contemporary feel. Nestled on seven acres of land, the stunning chalet features five bedrooms all with en-suite bathrooms, and the guest house has two bedrooms with a loft. Belmont’s most unique attribute is that it has a helipad right outside the door. Forget ‘ski in, ski out’, welcome to ‘Heliski in, Heliski out’!

Stonebridge is one of Whistler’s most exclusive neighborhoods, so it is no wonder this incredible property is located within it. With some fabulous facilities, including a heated outdoor  pool and hot tub, a steam room, outdoor firepits, a billiards room, a media room, cinema, private gym, its own garden and not least its own heli-pad, the Belmont estate is a truly exceptional chalet destination for those looking to travel a little further afield.

This sensational ski chalet sleeps 10 + 6: 5 bedrooms & a guest house, with prices ranging from $CAD70,000 to $CAD120,000 per week, from here.

Delectable fairytale cottage in Courchevel 1850

Sheltering amidst the snow-laded pines, Chalet Gentianes is one of the most sought-after luxury ski chalets in Courchevel 1850, France. This is a ski in and out chic mountain retreat with only a five minute walk away from the buzz of Courchevel. Don’t ski past the turning for your private pathway through the trees as you head down the Bellecote piste, or you’ll have to do the run again.

The chalet has been built in a sympathetic alpine style with wood interiors, beautiful aged oak beams and a huge open fireplace and elegant decor. From the deep sofas, squashy sheepskin stools, large dining table with the finest glassware and china, everything in this property has a feeling of understated class. At the basement level, you will find a private swimming pool, Jacuzzi and steam room, a self-contained gym and a massage room.

As you head upstairs and prepare to discover the private cinema and games room, the sumptuous en-suite bedrooms and spectacular top floor living area. Look out for those special little touches such as fresh flowers and luxury toiletries in the bathrooms as you go, the chalet even has a lift.

Now all of this would be impressive enough, but there’s more. Staying at Chalet Gentianes is like being wrapped in a blanket of love. A team of people attends to your every need, from the highly qualified chef to the chauffeur and minibus at your disposal. Not forgetting the dedicated private ski instructor and the near-constant attention of housekeepers. There’s even a concierge service to fulfill your every whim.

Prices start from 2,095 per person for 7 nights with fully catered services, from here.

Bluff House overlooking the ocean in Martha’s Vineyard

Bluff House occupies the crest of a windblown bluff overlooking the Atlantic and nearby saltwater ponds in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, designed by Maryann Thompson Architects. This stunning four bedroom, 6,850 square foot summer house was intended to be reminiscent of the early camps in Martha’s Vineyard. The house both shelters its inhabitants from the summer sun yet remains open to a visual panorama of ocean and pond views.

The structure’s complex form, organized between an earthen stone plinth and trapezoidal roof, is generated by the natural geometry of the bluff. The space between the planes allows for clerestory windows, which let in diffused light from above. The house becomes a visual extension of the landscape as the roof planes reciprocate the formal qualities of the bluff, windswept cedars, and cresting waves of the Atlantic below.

The colors and textures of the unfinished exterior material palette are meant to blend into the surrounding site over time, giving the house a feel that it is “of its place.” The western red cedar siding will weather to subtle and varied shades of gray. The windows are framed in unfinished yellow cedar, which will also weather to gray, as will the zinc roof.

The house is designed to be comfortable in the summer without mechanical air conditioning,large overhangs shade expanses of glass, and all rooms have cross ventilation. The clerestory windows, when open, pull the ventilation through the house. As the hot air rises out, cooler breezes are brought in along the ground. The result is a house that is open to the site and views, yet is also shady and breezy.

A family room off the kitchen has a large folding door that opens the space of the room to the screened porch, essentially turning the family room into one large screened porch when the doors are open.

The building’s interior continues the red cedar tongue and groove cladding of the exterior soffit, creating visual continuity on the outside, as well as offering a sense of craft reminiscent of the Vineyard’s boat-building traditions. The interior layout revolves around the central living room/dining/kitchen space.

Moments of intimacy are achieved within the open floor plan through the use of nooks and smaller spatial moments in the plan.

One of the four bedrooms serves as a guest suite, with a separate entrance and living area.

Photos: Steve Turner

Italian dream villa reminiscent of a knight’s castle

This inspiring dream home, spotted on Skona Hem, is reminiscent of a knight’s castle with consistently beautiful and vibrant limestone floors and walls. The home is owned by advertising agency owner Morten Angelo and his wife, Tina Horsted who were looking for a summer home, far from the job meetings and daily stress in Copenhagen, but still close enough to go there quite often. Their choice fell on Italy, which directed their gaze towards the northwest Piedmont region. The couple ended up further up the “heel”, which is known for its sweet trulli houses from the 15th century.

The beautiful 3,229 square foot Italian estate was restored by interior designer Charlotte Johnson who saw a no-frills dream house with a colorless theme. She built up a history around the place, with a feeling that would be an adventure to come here. The designer added contrast without color, black and white with the only contrasting color for walls and floors by gentle gradation. Furnishings are modern classics from the 1960’s of a kind which fits most contexts, without disturbing.

Only two of the towers on the conical trullihus-ceilings, typical of Alberobello region, is of older date. The rest of the House is newly built.

Luxurious Chalet Edelweiss in Courchevel 1850

Chalet Edelweiss is a newly-built temple of mountain luxury nestled amongst pine trees in Courchevel 1850, France. Extending over seven floors and offering a massive 32,292 square feet (3,000 square meters) of living space with eight bedrooms and eight bathroom, it successfully blends the line between a catered chalet and boutique hotel. The ski chalet is built around a stunning spiral staircase and has separate accommodation and access for the numerous dedicated staff.

This luxury chalet offers an entire floor of spa facilities with a pool, gym, therapy room and steam room, a private nightclub in the basement, complete with DJ booth, bar and dance floor. Other luxurious details include a private cinema room, two professional chefs and two butlers, and the ability to ski in and out, a private ski instructor and basement parking which is accessed by a car lift. The slopes are so close, all you have to do is just push open the door of the huge ski room, inhale the pine-scented mountain air, step into your skis and head off down the Bellecote piste.

Just like an exclusive, private hotel, the chalet has a large team to look after guests and provide an all-round pampering experience for everyone. The staff area has its own separate entrance and the privacy of guests is important. From the moment you wake up, everything is taken care of. Delicious breakfasts, bookings made for lunch in the mountains, a chauffeur-driven ride into town, private ski lessons and a massage at the end of the day, this fabulous vacation retreat has it all!

This fabulous ski chalet successfully sleeps 16 people, with a rate of $198,435 per week, from here.

Photos: Marc Berenguer

Marc Berenguer