In Dezanove House, London-based iñaki leite created a holiday home unlike any other. Located in A Pobra do Caramiñal, on the northwest coast of Spain, the villa has been designed to offer the kind of holiday experience that will have customers dishing out recommendations left, right and centre upon their return home.
Innovative and modern but as one with its natural surrounding, this is a getaway destination where you can be sure of actually getting away from it all. Even its placement on the quieter side of Spain, away from the hubbub of more widely-known tourist destinations, means this is a refreshing break from the crowded waterfronts and booked-out restaurants that many visitors to Spain come up against in their quest for relaxation.
But of course, what truly makes this modern holiday paradise stand out is its original design, which combines luxurious comfort with contemporary simplicity and artistic geometric forms. Time to start saving up for those flights to Spain…
This shot is a good one to open with, showing as it does a couple of the key elements that make the design of this house so special. This is an upper floor we're looking at – what appears to be the ground below is actually the roof of a lower part of the house.. That unusual ridged effect has been created by closing the shutters across the generous row of windows that dominates this wall. Instead of lying flush with the wall beneath, in the manner of traditional shutters, they meet in a peak in the centre, creating an interesting play of textures and shadows along the exterior wall.
The other important feature that this photo demonstrates clearly is the striking covering used for the exterior walls, which mimics the look and colour of a pebble beach and contrasts beautifully with the bright blue of the sky.
Glass is a very important component of this house, with the material used as a substitute for traditional walls in as many places as possible. As a consequence, the interior of the home is extraordinarily well-lit by the sun – as we shall see shortly.
The house is designed in several different connected parts, rather than as one cohesive block.. This means that different features can be prioritised in each part; for example, much more glass is used in the lower section seen here, which contains no bedrooms so doesn't require as much privacy.
Large sliding doors allow easy access to the garden, while scattered pillows and beanbags make for an appealing outdoor lounging area.
Inside the house, the wood covering of the ceilings and floors mirrors that seen on the exterior, though in a paler, sunnier shade.
Some of the asymmetrical windows used in the house result in strange and beautiful shadows and lighting inside the home.
It goes without saying that this house would be incomplete without a beautiful, traditional wood-burning fireplace, providing natural heat to the building.
In the kitchen, pale surfaces and a thoroughly contemporary island-based layout keep things highly modern.
Leaving the underside of some of the staircases exposes adds an extra level of geometric interest to this space.
Cement walls bring an unexpected industrial edge to this bright, sunlit bedroom.
Here we can see how light flows through some sections of the house from both sides.