In France’s Loire Valley, Les Bordes Estate Offers More Than Golf

The luxury vacation home market is a fickle one. What’s the best way to entice it? Perhaps with a parcel of newly built homes boasting an architectural pedigree, world-class golf, a private castle, horseback-riding, and frolicking goats. To set the stage, there’s an illustrious history that begins with a baron behind a pen empire. This is the recently transformed Les Bordes Estate, an internationally recognized golf course founded in 1986 by Baron Marcel Bich in France’s scenic Loire Valley.

Les Bordes Estate’s new ambition to become a community for second homeowners is aided by a prime location. Celebrated for picturesque landscapes and a copious amount of vineyards to pause for a glass of wine along the Loire River, the Loire Valley is accessible as a weekend getaway from Paris. The 1,400-acre property (90 minutes by car) also resides in a region packed full of Michelin star restaurants (20, the Estate’s marketing material touts).

Homeowners receive membership into an exclusive golf club, long a recognized name on the golf circuit and access to two golf courses—but you don’t have to like golf to have a good time. Petting zoo (that’s where the frolicking goats come in—another highlight is a rather tremendously sized rabbit), tennis, go-karting, pickleball, and horseback-riding on trails winding through the extensive grounds are geared towards the whole family. In the historic castle, a Six Senses spa and hotel is underway.

For stage one, which commenced in 2018, Michaelis Boyd—the architecture firm behind Soho House members’ clubs in Los Angeles, Berlin, and Oxfordshire, England—renovated existing cabins and a 7,800-square-foot clubhouse. The latter’s 3,550-square-foot restaurant and bar area soaks up golf course views with expansive black steel and glass floor-to-ceiling doors. These blend into existing stonework, clay roof tiles, and limestone flooring.

Seamless integration between the trees, lakes, and existing historic buildings was of particular importance to the architecture team, which placed the new buildings in a secluded wooded area. “When designing new builds, it is very important to see the lay of the land and understand the terrain, wind and solar gain patterns, and sun paths,” Michaelis explains. Something a golfer also discerns.

A Closer Look at Les Bordes Estates in France

Top 10 Homes Stories of 2022

Our top residential stories of 2022 demonstrate the continued creativity of designers, proving that residential design has no limits. From homes that blend in with their natural landscapes to those colored in a palette crafted to match the owner’s personal style, see the stunning abodes that made our jaws drop this year.

Interior Design’s Top 10 Residential Spaces of 2022

1. A Tropical Modernist Miami Home

Strang Design specializes in contextualizing homes to their immediate surroundings via use of natural materials, eschewing plain white boxes. In this Miami home for a family relocating from Brazil, this approach translated to an earthy palette and the placement of plant life—and the structure itself—in a manner that blurs the line between building and landscape. Read more.

2. Inside the Homes and Studios of Product Designers

Artisans and product designers take a hands on approach to their homes/studios. Pictured above, the home of textile artist Milla Novo and her partner, Nigel Nowotarski. They first encountered the neo-Gothic monastery in Bennebroek, the Netherlands, when it was being redeveloped into residences. The structure’s 2,000-square-foot former chapel had been languishing on the market. Novo saw a blank slate to and abundant possibilities. Read more.

3. A Refined Greenwich Village Apartment

With a past life as a church, the marble façade and original stained glass windows of this historic New York City building, which used to be home to actor Jude Law, caught the eye of a young chief legal and operating officer at a startup. She then purchased one of its eight modern loft condos and made it her own. With a sophisticated and sexy vibe, touches of gray and pinks in neutral shades set the tone. Read more.

4. Innovative Residential Developments in NYC

Explore these five amenities-rich residential developments that showcase New York apartment-building design at its coolest. Pictured above, a state-of-the-art luxury condominium with 126 private residences by John Cetra and Nancy Ruddy. Arched forms distinguish interior public spaces, from the double-height, walnut-paneled lobby to the sumptuous resident lounge, adjacent children’s playroom with reading nooks, and fully equipped fitness center, while the landscaped roof deck offers peerless uptown vistas. Read more.

5. A Trio of Residential Interiors 

A trio of new residential interiors runs the emotional gamut from bright and sunny to serene and sophisticated. In this Paris home, natural light floods a 1,300-square-foot duplex in a 17th-century Marais building, where ceilings were raised, a ribbon skylight installed, and the play of volumes and voids carefully calibrated to take full advantage of the expansive windows—not least in the living area, which is dominated by a stack of colorful blocks forming a sunny sculptural staircase and fireplace. Read more.

6. The 2021 Best of Year Winner for Residential Landscape

The owners of this Bay Area residence, sited on a verdant 1-acre flag lot, had embarked on a series of architectural interventions over the years. Most recently, they sought to maximize use of their backyard, dotted with redwoods and mature oaks, by commissioning a pair of freestanding glass-box structures devoted to indoor/outdoor living. Designed by Feldman Architecture, each minimalist 450-square-foot pavilion has an identical footprint and materials palette—Alaskan yellow cedar slatting, hand-troweled plaster ceilings, concrete plinths. Read more.

7. An Upper West Side Apartment with Perfect Visual Balance

On the Upper West Side of Manhattan, this 2,400-square-foot apartment, with architecture recently modernized by StudioLAB Design, occupies a building built in 1925. For the interiors, the New York City couple who reside here with their two-year-old and dog trusted the team at Justin Charette Design. The creative vision for the home centers around durability, functionality, style and budget. Read more.

8. These 5 Homes Nod to Their Surroundings

With strikingly diverse shapes, these five residences from around the globe are in direct response to their specific locales. In this 2,900-square-foot Mexico house, nature and pre-Hispanic culture guided the design. It’s surrounded by trees and located near Aztec ruins. he residence is a seamless blend of indoor and outdoor spaces that take full advantage of the leafy canopy overhead while referencing ancient materials (chukum, a Mayan stucco) and structures (wood blocks that echo the steps of the region’s iconic pyramids). Read more.

9. A Neutral and Organic-Inspired West Village Home

The team of SISSY+MARLEY Interiors transformed this 1,700-square-foot, three-bedroom apartment into a calming refuge for a young family who wanted to escape from the hustle and bustle of New York City without leaving town. A restrained palette makes the apartment feel larger, bright and crisp, while reflecting a relaxing vibe. The busy homeowner asked designers to recreate the sensation of a dreamy boutique hotel. Read more.

10. A London Apartment Honors David Bowie and Other Musicians

When a famous British singer bought a pad in a Foster + Partners multi-tower apartment complex on the banks of London’s River Thames, he had two specific desires. First, he longed to transform its undoubtedly luxurious but standard-issue interiors into one of the city’s great party spots. And second, a beloved portrait of his idol David Bowie had to take pride of place. Read more.

5 Homes Around the Globe That Nod to Their Surroundings

The strikingly diverse shapes of these five residences from around the globe are in direct response to their specific locales—physical and cultural.

HW Studio Arquitectos

Morelia, Mexico

Half buried under a grassy hillock, this 2,700-square-foot bunkerlike house—all concrete, wood floors excepted—is accessed by a narrow high-walled pathway that expands slightly to accommodate a tree. The bedrooms in the back look onto an equally narrow walled courtyard, while the large, vaulted living space in the front is completely open to the wooded ravine, thanks to an entire wall of glass.

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Imogen Pullar Architecture

Walkerville, Australia

At a mere 475 square feet, this seaside family retreat is a tiny house that doesn’t feel that way at all, thanks to lofty pitched ceilings, a mezzanine level, built-in furniture and storage, and expansive views of mountains, forests, or bay wherever you look. The exterior is clad in non-combustible fiber cement—the area is prone to bushfires—which a team of local artists has covered with colorful murals, making the little structure a delightful sight in its own right.

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HGX Design

Hudson, New York

Despite its size—more than 6,000 square feet in all, including a basement media room and gym—this elegant weekend house sits lightly on a grassy ridge, its clean form and silvery cedar cladding echoing the simple rural buildings in the area. Inside, a limited color and materials palette—walnut planks, also silvery, on floors and some walls; other surfaces painted a single, unifying hue—and soaring 13-foot-high ceilings create serene, light-filled spaces as hospitable to people as they are to the homeowner’s art collection.

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MCXA Group

Malinalco, Mexico

Nature and pre-Hispanic culture guided the design of this 2,900-square-foot house, which is surrounded by trees and located near Aztec ruins. Comprising a series of flexible volumes interwoven with courtyards of varying size, the residence is a seamless blend of indoor and outdoor spaces that take full advantage of the leafy canopy overhead while referencing ancient materials (chukum, a Mayan stucco) and structures (wood blocks that echo the steps of the region’s iconic pyramids).

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Nicole Blair

Austin, Texas

Like a bird, this 660-square-foot addition perches on four steel columns a couple of feet above the existing bungalow’s roofline. It’s shop-built steel frame was craned into position in a single day and then clad in low-maintenance oxidized-steel siding that chimes with other site elements. The split-level interior offers flexible space for family living, hobbies, and, during the pandemic, a hairstyling station.

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Nicole Hogarty Designs Creates an Alluring Summer Retreat on Nantucket Island

Spread over 63 acres on a private peninsula of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, this luxury property owned by Savannah and Henry Helgeson mixes New England architecture and West Coast-inspired interiors. 

The gambrel, shingle-style home comprises the 10,000-square-foot, two-story main structure. With its two large living sections, five bedrooms, wine cellar, loft overlooking the great room and outdoor area, which includes a cabana, pool and boat house, this summer retreat for the family had to feel intimate but also inviting and fun to accommodate large gatherings. 

Furnished and adorned with pieces of furniture and lighting by the likes of Lindsey Adelman, Holly Hunt, Achille Castiglioni, Apparatus and Ingo Maurer—to name only a few—the spaces feature an overall quiet palette.

“We used solid surfaces as points of interest and contrast such as the primary bathroom shower and kitchen backsplash,” says Nicole Hogarty, founder of Nicole Hogarty Designs, who worked closely with the general contractor, Stephen Cheney of Cheney Custom Homes. Benjamin Moore’s Bruton White was incorporated into the common areas to visually connect each of the spaces while maintaining focus on the water view and the indoor/outdoor approach. “We favored texture and a mix of materials over color to define and add depth.” 

In this multi-generational home, classic influences, organic warmth and a blend of East Coast and West Coast inspirations meet to create a new visual dialogue with a true sense of balance. 

Stéphanie Coutas Refashions a 1970s St. Tropez Villa into a New Work of Art

When the owner of an art gallery approached Stéphanie Coutas to update a 1970s villa in Les Parcs, St. Tropez, she instantly knew the building’s good bones would be a solid frame for an artful palette of materials—not to mention the Mediterranean views. 

“The idea was not to entirely revolutionize the space,” Coutas says, “but to ensure that all elements were in harmony.” The kitchen on the ground floor became the primary bedroom suite, while the neighboring garage became an open kitchen and dining space. She added three guests suites to the ground floor, and two larger suites above on the first floor, “so the rooms would overlook the stunning garden and the sea views.”

In the garden, she placed a green marble table she designed with Blanc Carrare. “We were able to create two convivial lounge areas,” she says of the terrace by the pool, “separated by an olive tree that became the main focus of the space.”

The materials are mostly marble, including sanded and brushed Crema Nova floors, along with travertine, oak, and straw. “I wanted to maintain the spirit of the villa,” she says, “but give it a new lease on life and bring it into the 21st Century.” The result is a fresh canvas for St. Tropez living. 

Ghislaine Viñas Creates a Calm Yet Vibrant Getaway in Palm Beach, Florida

With the constant drama of crashing waves right outside, creating a beachfront home that feels restful can prove surprisingly challenging. But New York–based interior designer Ghislaine Viñas ran with that sense of theater at this 3,900-square-foot ground-floor condo in Palm Beach, Florida, artfully drawing in the colors and movement of the water visible at every turn through floor-to-ceiling windows.

This is Viñas’s second project for the clients, the first being their Manhattan apartment. (A third project is also underway.) The owners, a married couple with two teenagers, wanted a getaway where they could relax and spend time with relatives, many of whom live in the area. Because of their past collaboration, Viñas was able to nail the brief right out of the gate. “They wanted a feeling of joyfulness and relaxation—but in an energetic sort of way,” the designer says. Comfort, she adds, was paramount. She also knows the clients to be modernists with an abiding love of midcentury furniture; the wife grew up with Arne Jacobsen Egg chairs, Eero Saarinen Womb chairs, and many other iconic pieces in her childhood home. And because this is a beach house, everything had to be easy to upkeep. “It’s supposed to be a stress-free living environment—it’s not supposed to be fussy!” Viñas says.

Although the living area’s coffered ceiling was deemed worthy of preservation, one element original to the 1980s condominium that absolutely needed to go was the “hideous” dark-cherry woodwork in the kitchen and bathrooms, which felt very heavy and contrary to the open and airy atmosphere Viñas was aiming for: “We cleaned out everything and created a fresh, white, invigorating space.” She left stonelike ceramic-tile floors in some rooms, including the living area, but specified white-ash planks for the three bedrooms and installed new baseboards and architectural lighting throughout. She also opened up the kitchen to the public areas and added an eating bar with high stools—perfect for breakfasting, lunching, and general hanging out. Shaker detailing on the cabinetry doors echoes the gridlike coffers overhead. “It’s not a look-at-me kind of project, so the little details are important,” Viñas explains.

As for the palette, the clean white base is spiked with serene oceanic blues, soft corals, and moments of terra-cotta, plus Viñas judiciously placed more intense accents throughout. The wife loves bold hues, especially when they jump from warm to cold tones. Viñas accomplished this chromatic sleight of hand by letting artwork and a few carefully chosen pieces do the heavy lifting. For example, the custom-colored yellow poufs in the living room and a series of hanging lamps in the octagonal entryway, the rainbow shades of which were woven using recycled soda bottles as a sort of armature.

Just below that fixture, the classic Saarinen laminate-top pedestal table was a natural choice given the wife’s love of the classics. It softens the room’s hard edges, as do the round ombré rug and custom crescent-shape wall-mounted consoles. “The repetition of circular forms is very pleasing and relaxing,” the designer observes. Ditto the pair of paintings by Ludwig Favre that Viñas describes as “other-worldly underwater-y”: fantastical compositions of tropical leaves mixed with flashes of bright color.

Comfort was taken to what some might call an extreme: The clients asked to test-drive every chair and sofa before they agreed to live with it. (The Egg chairs, of course, didn’t need to interview for the position.) Wherever possible, Viñas used performance fabrics for seating upholstery, many from her own line for HBF Textiles. The L-shape sectional in the living room—substantial and deep enough to provide plenty of room for family gatherings—is clad in her Sister Solid polyester-acrylic, while dining room chairs sport her Sir Stripe-a-lot Sunbrella.

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In the middle of the apartment, Viñas created a cozy media room, which can be shut off with glass doors to provide privacy without skewing cavelike. Two walls are dressed in another of her designs, Wild Thing for Flavor Paper, a tropical-leaf motif that can, in certain colorways, be quite wild indeed. Here, though, Viñas specified a custom shade—a subdued sand—which allowed her to introduce riotous pattern without overwhelming the smallish space.

The primary bedroom started with the view; namely, “how the color of the ocean changes all the time as the sun hits it,” Viñas reports. “And how, when the sun goes down, it transforms from green to blue in a really beautiful way.” She pulled those hues into the carpet (Vestry Street, one of her designs for Aronson’s) and lounge chairs (upholstered in a blue-and-coral stripe) and even the ombré walls, which transition from soft blue to white. “The room has a beautiful tranquil feeling,” she says, stating the obvious.

Although everything is done with great subtlety, the overall effect is quite striking, a sophisticated yet unpretentious take on the prototypical beach house. “It is definitely the kind of place,” she notes, “where, when you walk in, you say, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so glad I’m here; it makes me feel good.’”

george beaver: general contractor/builder

custom cabinetry: woodwork

aronson’s floor covering: custom rugs (living area, primary bedroom, entry, media lounge)

republic of fritz hansen: egg chairs

designtex: fabric (living area)

Property Furniture: poufs

Knoll Textiles: fabric

ligne roset: sectional (living area), sleeper sofa (media lounge)

hbf textiles: sectional fabric (living area); chair fabric (dining area)

interiors by laura: custom head-board fabrication (boy’s and girl’s bedrooms)

nectar: bed bases (boy’s and girl’s bedrooms)

febrik: bed and headboard fabric (boy’s bedroom)

the rug company: custom rugs (boy’s and girl’s bedrooms, entry)

cappellini: cabinet (dining area)

moroso: chairs

edelman leather: seat leather

dualoy leather: arm strap leather

material through scandinavian spaces: table

romo: headboard fabric (girl’s bedroom)

serena and lily: hanging chair

cowtan and tout: cushion fabric

zero through global lighting: sconces

flavor paper: wallpaper (girl’s bedroom, media lounge)

rich brilliant willing: chandelier (kitchen)

i colori through stone source: backsplash tiles

Design Within Reach: stools

richard schultz through knoll: chairs (patio)

acdo álvaro catalán de ocón through for me lab: lighting pendants (entry)

knoll through design within reach: table

regeneration: credenza (primary bedroom)

calico: wallpaper

rh: platform bed

perennials: upholstery

knoll through evensonbest: bench

herman miller through design within reach: lounge chairs

Janus et Cie: fabric

lekker home: side table

louis poulsen through ylighting: table lamps

kvadrat: curtain fabric

vitra: lounge chair

david sutherland: fabric

lepere: side tables

collector nyc: ustom consoles (entry, hall); custom coffee table (living area); custom bedside tables (primary bedroom); custom mirror (hall)

artstar; scad artsales: artwork