From Treviso airport travel north to a small village called Asolo... Stop there and travel south for 5 miles to the Brion family tomb, a beautiful modernist gem by Carlo Scarpa. To understand the direction of my dream home you have to start here, where my ideas were formed.
Travel east a little and slightly north, into the foothills of the dolomites... Leave the car and walk the rest of the way, take in the beautiful scenery and relax. After a while you will come to a long avenue of sycamore trees that starts between two hills, there's no gate or wall, just a fine gravel path running down the middle. At the end you have a choice; the way here is open, a small stream runs down from the mountains just ahead of you, but for the moment you ignore this and turn left to the vineyards and orchard, walking along you notice you are following a path cut in the lawn - on either side the grass is long and filled with wild flowers. The vineyard flows away on one side and on the other side wrinkled old olive trees watch over a group of apple trees whose blossom competes with the nearby cherries.
You come back towards the path and carry on over the other side to the water garden, the stream you saw earlier runs down here, it's quick pace temporarily tamed as it passes along a long concrete channel lined with brass. Small channels lead off into shallow pools and over exquisite waterfalls before coming back together and allowing the stream to run off into the distance. There are places to sit out here too, quiet little pavilions and sheltered alcoves. But the day is drawing on and the nights out here can be cold.
You walk back to the path but head on up it this time, following the stream. You're going gently up hill and there are more cherry trees, they quickly open out though and you are walking up a slope covered in the crocuses whose stems help keep the house running. As you crest the hill the stream runs away to your left, continuing to the mountain spring that is its birthplace. In front of you is the house, a low slung slate roofed timber building that undulates around a series of small gardens; each aimed at one of the senses.
You walk through them to reach the main house; the first - touch - takes you through a dark concrete tunnel covered in moss... You take your shoes off before you enter so that you can feel the changing textures beneath your feat; sand, moss, water... You are blind in here (there are twists, turns that block out the sun) but you can here rushing noise ahead of you and you head for it. You emerge again and in front of you is a water garden filled with fountains that roar away, birds are ever present too and the wind whistles through specially designed channels in the walls. The next garden is filled with herbs, spices and fruit. On again and we reach a place filled with more herbs, but these are fragrant, honeysuckle, roses and elderflower catch the nose as well. The last garden is a bizarre mix of optical illusion and serene aesthetics... The door is a walnut panel with a brass frame and concrete lintel. You reach for then handle and turn it, but it simply slides into th wall. to your left weights and pulleys do there job.
Inside is a different world - the sense of home is there immediately. The floors are oak and already warm as the evening cools (5mm constructional veneer on ply over an underfloor heating system to be precise), the walls are white but lit with warm lights. The hall is wide and open and not exactly long - this part of the house is about open spaces and the kitchen/dining room cuts straight across it. All the furnishings are bespoke and modern (and too hard to describe, my imagination is running low
), the kitchen units are deep red in contrast to the light floors and walls, topped with slate and reminiscent of my childhood memories. A vast aga completes the scene and the memories of England.
The library and sitting room is the next stop; it is huge - the oak panel ceiling is some seven meters up and is supported by giant oak ribs that curve down as part of the walls (also oak). A massive fireplace set in stone has two Irish wolfhounds lounging by it and vast walnut and leather armchair in which I sit with a glass of finest single malt and a good book.
That's about it - there are bedrooms, other rooms to sit in and work in as well as a studio, workshop (I'm a cabinet maker) and darkroom but I'm out of energy and need to pass out on my silk-covered bed.
Ahhh dreams.
I looked it up again recently and it costs over 5m now. ho hum. we could have a guest tower and a gaming tower and archery. *goes to see if still on the internet*. We'd need a helicopter or teleportation for access to civilisation though.
