Five Amazing Villas Straight From Your Dreams
|
A typical villa is probably located in a nice part of town with some green space round it, a swimming pool and a nice modern interior. But luxury villas, the ones you can only dream about, are something to behold. These are statements of grandeur and style intended to marry superb indoor and outdoor living with cutting edge decor and mind-blowing scenery. To get one you’ll need a pre-credit crunch executive-sized bank bonus and a suitably large plot in an exotic part of the world with room for the architect to wield some AutoCAD magic. If that doesn’t paint an accurate picture of your personal circumstance, then check these out instead.
Villa Storingavika [Bergen, Norway, pictured above]
This Norwegian villa is on the Bergen archipelago, and is very different to either the traditional French and Italian villas, or their contemporary cliff and beach side cousins in Thailand. Villa Storingavika has the sort of space and unrivaled views that few can claim in Thailand or the busy French Riviera. The home is rendered in glass and stained black wood, perched on a rocky hillside and designed to best face the Norwegian weather. There is no swimming pool, but a huge lake within throwing distance of the lake more than makes up for that.
Alila Villa [Bali, Indonesia]
The Alila Villa in Bali is scheduled to open in early 2009. It’s perched on a plateau between huge cliffs and picture-pefect ocean views over Ulluwatu on the Bingin Peninsula. The development offers a range of villas for a private retreat, each with hotel-grade facilites to look cater to your every need. With a cliftop bar, restaurant, spa, fitness centre and wedding lawn, it’s safe to say that all of these villas are accompanied by top class facilites. All 87 units come with their own pool with spectacular views.
Beyond Villa [Phuket, Thailand]
Thailand is the new home of the super villa with clean lines, lots of white walls and great big swimming pools. Tropical beaches are one thing, but when you want to just relax and enjoy being alone, private villas are the way forward. This home has a master bedroom with its own private pool, and the whole home, all 6,000 square metres of it, is electronically controlled so that you don’t have to worry about a thing. It occupies a prime plot overlooking the Andaman Sea on the Southwest coast of Phuket and is few dozens steps from traditional French villas.
‘The View’ [Patong Harbour, Thailand]
The owner of this stunning villa used to work on the New York Stock Exchange but moved to Singapore where, after visiting Thailand every weekend, he decided to get into real estate and rent out large villas to tourists visiting his adopted homeland. His taste, and ability to spot fine villas is evidenced in his own villa that looks over Patong Harbor, from a height over almost 200 feet above the sea. He says he built this multi-million dollar villa for one reason: the view. Geared towards hosting parties, the villa has sensible living quarters upstairs and a party space downstairs complete with swimming pool, sound system and lighting. Thinking of buying something similar? You’ll need to find a generous banker willing to give you a home loan for around USD $2.5 million, which isn’t going to be so easy in the current economic climate!
Villa Nackros [Kalmar, Sweden]
This is a villa like no other: the whole living environment floats. The 165 ton structure is totally safe though, sitting securely in the water: wind, waves and sea ice won’t stop you from enjoying this home. Located on the Eastern coast of Sweden in the town of Kalmar, this home has six rooms and a kitchen; it’s crammed with technology to enhance the whole idyllic experience.
alila villas
beyond villa
the view
villa nackros
Tagged: exotic destinations, holiday houses
- 0
- 2
Also by TOM BECKER
HAVE YOUR SAY
Fresh from having his iconic image of Barack Obama splashed across the cover of Time Magazine’s Person Of The Year issue, Shepard Fairey — also the creator of the ubiquitous Andre The Giant sticker — has been confirmed as a guest editor of an issue of the free weekly Lost At E Minor publication, to go out in mid-January, in which he will write exclusively for us about his favorite artists right now and talk about the artwork that has excited him most in 2008. It’s going to be a very interesting read, an insight into the inspirations behind the street art of this seminal LA artist, and you can sign up to receive it for free simply by subscribing to our free weekly email publication.
How do you explain a rainbow? I’m sure science has its answers. In fact, one has probably been manufactured in a test tube somewhere. Read more
Those old issues of Popular Mechanics that forecasted the wondrous technological developments of tomorrow now seem dated and more representative of the times in which they were published than the times they tried to predict. Read more
The new Antony and the Johnsons album, The Crying Light, is the band’s follow up to the Mercury prize winning I Am a Bird Now. The album is available for instant digital download — along with a bonus track, My Lord, My Love — if you pre-order it from the band’s website as of today. This gives you a chance to hear the album in full before the official release date on January 19th. We have their track, Another World [listen below], available for free download in the Music Downloads section in the third column of the Lost At E Minor site.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Located on West Houston, Alphaville is my favorite gift store in Manhattan. It offers a great selection of vintage objects, from Nixon’s campaign buttons, to Sesame Street 80s mobiles, 50s greeting cards and the original Mr. Potato Head and his friends. It’s one of those places I walk into just to look but always end up buying something.
Says Van She bassist and vocalist Matt Van Schie about the Bush Tetras track — Too Many Creeps — from 1982: ‘I LOOOVE this tune. It opens with a perfect snare roll, and then the counter bass and guitar rhythms make it so cool. The lyrics are even more valid today. They’re one of my favourite bands of all time, and so many people try to do what they did for real. What a time! I wish I was born back then in New York, hanging out with these kids. Ahhhh!!’
From this artist selection of t-shirts comes this Christina Koustospirou illustration, silkscreened on a limited edition t-shirt, and distributed in a vinyl sleeve, with a biography of the artist on the back of the sleeve. Every t-shirt is numbered and signed by the artist, and comes in organic cotton.
WE'RE RESPECTING
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
German painter Armin Rohr’s works look like stills from Stan Brakhage films, all acid-washed, scratched out, and ethereal like a sudden flood of memories. Read more
Forget battery powered vehicles. Cars made from ice are the future of transportation: no pollution, no honking horns, no painful rap music blasting out of souped up stereos. And if they melt, they melt. You just swim the rest of the way down the slipstream.
Creative advertising packaging
Despite the intentions of many, it’s not so often that advertising — as an industry — truly thinks outside the box. Yet, when executed well, clever eye-catching advertising actually works. It does. As these examples will attest to. Read more
Entre Chien et Loup by Amira Fritz
This fashion photo series — Entre Chien et Loup — is the product of a collaboration between Parisian-based photographer Amira Fritz and Matthew Cunnington and John Sanderson. Read more
Oslo artist Gry E.Pedersen blends digital artwork and photos, but her generally experimental artwork also includes more traditional forms of paintings. Read more
For visual people who rely on shapes and imagination, this eye test t-shirt by Hong Kong-based studio, WEME, is a perfect conversation starter. It’s available through the Lost At E Minor online store for just US$30. Read more
We’ve just updated the Lost At E Minor iPhone app in the iTunes store with some new features. It’s a daily snapshot of the latest content from the site. You can download it now. Win? Well, it’s free. So you win, we win. Snap!
FOLLOW US
DISCOVER MORE
SO...
SEARCH: Can't find what you're looking for? Do a search..
IS IT GOOD FOR YOU TOO?
We hope you're enjoying your time on Lost At E Minor, but it’s not over yet. Got something to share? Tell us about it and we'll look to publish it. If you want to have your work featured on the site, we'd love to hear from you. Pssst, we also have an online store stocking some of the goodies we feature on the site.
If you're a media agency and want to use this platform to connect with our readership, then drop us a line and tell us about it. Oh yeah, and we do digital consulting for cool brands that want to reach the sort of demographic that visits this site.
David Hayes said | 5 December, 2008
Not Bad but you will have to have a look at the Leaf House in Brazil. The architects Mareines +Patalano (http://www.mareines-patalano.com.br/)were inspired by Brazil’s Indian architecture to produce this flowering roof, low-tech eco-efficiency creation. Perfectly suited for the hot and humid climate where it stands in Rio de Janeiro .The roof acts as a big leaf that protects from the hot sun all the enclosed spaces of the house, such as the verandas and the in-between open spaces. These last two types of space are the main social areas, the essence of the design. They allow trade winds from the sea to pass trough the building, providing natural ventilation and passive cooling.
There are no corridors and inside and outside are almost fused. Rainwater is harvested from the roof for re-use. With its natural finishes, organic aesthetics and richness of details, the house is in harmony with the exuberant Brazilian nature.