ELLE Decoration Country No. 11

The chill in the air on a crisp autumn morning, trees with manes of red and gold that fall to the ground and soften footfall on long country walks before winter takes charge in a flurry of snow… For those who live in the countryside, the change of the seasons can be a cinematic experience – one that many of the 15 homes revealed in this book frame to dramatic effect: from a cabin with picture windows overlooking the rugged Danish coastline to a glass-walled Modernist house nestled in an American woodland, where the boundaries between inside and out dissolve. Their beauty brings to mind a quote by novelist and playwright, JB Priestley, whom I like to imagine spent many an hour contemplating this spectacle. It seems fitting, then, that…

‘I REALISED THAT THE EARTH COULD ACTUALLY BE SHAPED, MUCH LIKE THE SURFACE OF A SCULPTURE’ THIS SEVEN-HECTARE OASIS NEAR STELLENBOSCH IS AN OPEN-AIR GALLERY FEATURING 60 BRONZE SCULPTURES DYLAN LEWIS’S FAMOUS SCULPTURES OF LARGE CATS REPRESENT THE POWER AND BEAUTY OF NATURE Located at the juncture between two worlds, one wild and the other tamed, Dylan Lewis’s Sculpture Garden borders the suburbs of Stellenbosch in South Africa and the nearby mountain range, where leopards roam the land and black eagles circle in the sky. The seven-hectare oasis on the sculptor’s farm in Paradyskloof is a breathtaking open-air art gallery, where 60 bronze sculptures – each one a marker of Dylan’s artistic progress thus far – are proudly displayed. The garden’s development began serendipitously in 2009, when Dylan and his wife Karen decided…

INSTEAD OF SOLID WALLS, NARROW STRIPS OF PINE ALLOW LIGHT TO SHINE THROUGH, CREATING A MORE OPEN FEEL ‘THE SENSE OF COMFORT COMES FROM THE MATERIALS… FROM THE LEATHER BENCHES TO THE NATURAL STONE FLOOR’ THE KEY TO THIS LOOK IS TEXTURE, FROM THE SMOOTH, CURVACEOUS BATH TO ROUGHLY HEWN GRANITE BASINS Nestled high in the snow-capped Austrian mountains, this striking three-storey new-build house provides the ultimate sanctuary to hunker down in. It is the work of Philipp Hoflehner, creative director of Tyrol-based design company Bernd Gruber, who created a second home for Rolf Waltz – a German entrepreneur in the music industry – and his wife Stephanie, situated right next door to their existing home. ‘Their main house is often full of friends and business partners who come to stay, whereas…

‘WE COULD NEVER HAVE IMAGINED THAT RESTORING LA CHAPELLE WOULD CONSUME US SO COMPLETELY’ THE AESTHETIC IS ONE OF AIRY MODERNITY, WITH A PALETTE OF TAUPE, WHITE, GREY AND BLACK ‘WE APPRECIATE THE NEUTRALITY AND PEACE THAT THIS SOMBRE SCHEME PROVIDES’ It took almost twenty years for professional athlete Adrian Passey and his wife Michele O’Neill, an advertising executive, to renovate this 10th-century French chapel, which they have named La Chapelle. Perched above Saignon, a tiny hill village on the edge of the magnificent Luberon National Park, the house has 360-degree vistas of the valley below it, and is situated on the ancient Via Domitia (the first Roman road built in Gaul, and one of the oldest in existence) that has been used by pilgrims since the Middle Ages as a route from…

THE MAIN LIVING SPACE TAKES FULL ADVANTAGE OF ITS BREATHTAKING VIEW OF THE DOLOMITE MOUNTAIN RANGE 'THE DESIGN WAS INSPIRED BY THE TRADITIONAL GABLED ROOF OF THE ATTACHED FARMHOUSE’ THIS MODERN HOME IS AN ANTIDOTE TO THE AUSTERE PASTORAL LIFE Carved into a hillside overlooking the South Tyrol village of Villandro, this Modernist house captures magnificent views of the Dolomite mountains. Its owner, Thomas Erlacher, who runs a bespoke furniture business, built the space as an extension to the 16th-century farmhouse that stands beside it. His aim was to preserve the charm of the old farmstead, where he enjoys the simple life, tending to a menagerie and indulging in his passion for mountaineering. At first appearance, the new hideaway is a completely separate building; concealed within the landscape, it is designed as an…

ANCIENT WOODWORK AND ANTIQUE FITTINGS CO-EXIST IN QUIET HARMONY WITH MODERN DESIGN CLASSICS BY LE CORBUSIER ‘I WANTED TO MIX MY OWN STORY AND CULTURE WITH THE ATMOSPHERE OF THE SPACE’ The picturesque village of Madulain in the Swiss Alps is just a short distance from St. Moritz, but this sleepy outpost feels a million miles away from the glitz and glamour of the famous ski resort. It is here that architect Giovanna Cornelio, a partner in the CLS Architetti studios, has discovered an antidote to her busy life in the form of a characterful villa dating from the 1700s. She and her husband use the house as a bolthole year-round – and, while their renovation of the property honours its historical heritage, their home exudes a modern sensibility. EACH PIECE IS CAREFULLY…