Stalking in the snow

Winter here in Australia, a land more often associated with sun and surf not winter and snow. Today I'm stalking in the high country of Victoria and the resort village of Dinner Plain. Welcome to Under the Moonlight designed by Giovanni D’Ambrosio. It's a contemporary (and expensive) take on the traditional cattlemen's huts of the area.

"Perched on the edge of an alpine reserve in Dinner Plain Village, part of the highest approved freehold land in Australia, the home is located just 10 minutes from down hill skiing at Mount Hotham. Featuring extensive 8 x 9 sq metre glass panels, sweeping alpine views are drawn in to the interior of the home, which also features a 20 tonne cantilevered fire place made of local stone."

Forget the stone fireplace look at the bathroom! A divan perched beside the spa. Dark and decadent. This is definitely a bachelor's pad in the snow, no? A sexy private après-ski lair. Glühwein anyone? Link here while it lasts.

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Rustic idyll

More and more I feel myself drawn to the rustic ... the sophisticated rustic. The beauty of natural materials juxtaposed with contemporary luxury. Texture and minimalism. Solid, firm, permanent. One foot in the past, one in the future. I've featured Spanish firm Minim before and we have had a small glimpse of this Priorat house but when I found architectural photographer Eugeni Pons' portfolio I gasped. There is a richness, a warmth, a touch of humanity in these photos. Simple but luxe, rustic yet modern, it is a complex space. It may seem simple but it's a carefully considered play of opposites. Voids and solids, rough and smooth, past and present and Eugeni's shots capture it perfectly.

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Le Logis de Puygaty

  

Once upon a time in a far away land (everywhere is far away if you live in Australia) lived a stressed out princess who really, really wanted to swap places with Sleeping Beauty if sleeping meant napping in these beds. The French seem so good at it. Rustic wonderlands with super comfy down filled, linen clad beds, sunny outsides and cave like insides. History, laidback luxury, warm winds blowing, great wine, fabulous food, warm pools for between nap dips and too cute pets. Move over Sleeping Beauty I'm taking over your bed! Le Logis de Puygaty, a fairytale of a getaway.

  

  

  

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Fairytales come true

Once upon a time a princess, let's call her Princess Jo decided she needed her own castle, a Château in fact. Somewhere in Provence. Something simple. Nothing too flashy. She may be a fairytale princess but she had her feet firmly on the ground (yah right!).  She asked her fairy godmother to find her something. Spare and simple, almost monastic but always breathtakingly beautiful. Her fairy godmother ended up being Anzhelika from Miss Design. (Go visit her blog she may grant your wishes too.) Château de Moissac is too gorgeous to be true ... but it is. Fairytales do come true.

  

  

  

  

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Temptation

Every so often an email lands in my inbox from perhaps the cruelest man I know. Chris from Welcome Beyond dangles dream designs in front of me and it is all I can do to stop myself from hocking everything I own, jumping a plane and escaping to the hand picked boutique vacation properties that litter the pages of their website. Chris has cruelly tempted me again with a Spanish beauty and oh the temptation! Alemanys 5 ...  "located in the core part of Girona's medieval quarter, within the scope of the first wall and overlooking the Plaça de Sant Domènec, is the property Alemanys 5, whose original building dates from the Sixteenth Century. Its recent restoration integrates old and new, where sober and clean lines look for the enjoyment of essential elements such as space, light, shadow, fire, stone, water or silence." Two apartments, "El Badiu" (The Veranda) and "El Jardí" (The Garden) designed by architect Anna Noguera. Thanks Chris for the link and double thanks for the extra photos. I'm packing as I type!

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