Elysium, Portugal
This villa occupies an exclusive golf-course location in The Algarve. Built for long standing Herrington Gate clients in the local Portugese style, the initial room layout did not do justice to the space available. With the aim of injecting a real statement quality into the property, we worked with the building contractors to re-designate the interior areas, to change run-of-the-mill hinged doors to sleek sliding openings, and even moving walls to make more sense of the light, the views and the flow of the space. We assumed a project management role for each element of the build, both from our north-east base and in spending numerous days on site.
The result is a relaxed but very contemporary home with a monochrome palette, blending high-end interior design into the vernacular shell and adding the best of modern technology with lighting, entrances, water features and air conditioning all at the touch control of the intelligent home automation system.
The oversized main entrance door made from Wenge, with horizontal board feature.
Chill out at the swim-up bar, from here the view of the rear of the house shows the first floor terraces with lounge seating and al fresco dining, the landscape grounds boast a fabulous pool and a full equipped poolside kitchen and dining area.
The poolside kitchen is built from weatherproof Corian fashioned seamlessly into furniture surrounding the Wolf barbecue.
All furniture is designed to be resilient to the outdoor elements. Sub Zero appliances cater for all drinks cooling and food chilling needs.
The undoubted appeal of seamless white Corian.
A Quooker fusion hot tap gives flexible function to the sink.
View from first floor balcony to the poolside kitchen with intelligently controlled shutter system.
The contemporary stone staircase sweeps up to the first floor contrasting with the dark grey tones of the Caladeilegno bespoke sliding pocket doors.
At the top of the stairs you are greeted by a grand veneered wall, almost 11 feet in height, housing both the main front entrance door (the external face of which is in Wenge) and a concealed door to the upper ground floor WC.
The entrance door wall from an alternative angle.
The concealed door to the cloakroom shown open.
A view through the door into the small cloakroom with the cleverly designed layout.
The veneered wall with inset intelligent control panel operating the whole house.
The impressive mirror finish stainless steel door handle is fabricated in the shape of a letter 'G', our client's surname initial.
An opening in the Caladeilegno wall of furniture allows a view from the kitchen right through to the main entrance door.
The reverse view from the main entrance door takes one's eye back through this opening into the kitchen area.
The main shot of the kitchen shows 'The Appliance Garage' where Sub Zero appliances sit alongside Corian worktops and Caladeilegno cabinetry.
The ceiling feature, housing lights and extractor fan, mirrors the shape of the island below.
The twin pedestal dining table with juxtaposed grain flow feature has a heavy glass top.
The dining area leads to the lounge area with sofa seating, the full height windows afford views over the beautiful golf course.
The floating media furniture along with the contemporary fireplace is supported by an elevated white marble hearth.
The coffee tables match the design of the dining table.
The sliding door in the hallway features tinted mirror with sandblasted stripes and burnished Caleidolegno.
A pocket door slides open to the upper master bedroom.
The sliding door wardrobe in the master suite cleverly forms the main wall of the ensuite bathroom. The doors are finished in a combination of leather and high gloss with stainless steel trim.
Leather, high gloss and mirror finishes define the glamorous master bedroom.
A large walk-in shower, with sand-blasted striped glass, screens the bedroom from the ensuite.
This wall is the reverse side of the wardrobe seen at the entrance to the bedroom and acts as a concealed housing for all pipework. A double vanity unit cantilevers from the mirrored wall and a sand-blasted glass door gives privacy to the WC.
More classical styling to the guest bedroom with hand painted furniture, tapered legs and croc' skin inlays.
Stainless steel trims add a touch of the contemporary to the wardrobe doors.
Cosmic Black granite provides the backdrop for simple white furniture and sanitary ware in the guest ensuite.
Handle-less furniture, with grey leather and mirror finish detail, flanks the entrance to the lower master bedroom suite.
Grey leather and mirror finishes continue into the sleeping area.
A further bedroom features upholstered headboard and furniture panels.
The underground cinema room features a starlight ceiling along with tiered cinema style seating, this was designed to help the owners indulge in their love of film.
The first floor terrace affords views over the pool and kitchen below.
As night falls, the first floor Al Fresco kitchen comes in to its own for evening entertaining.
The Al Fresco kitchen, like The Poolside Kitchen, is made from weatherproof white Corian and has a Wolf Barbecue with side companion.
The exterior kitchen was designed to be a direct continuation of the interior kitchen through the glass door screen.
Nightfall allows the automated lighting to enhance the pool and building against a Mediterranean sunset.
The pool house kitchen and gardens offer an inviting haven in the evening, with intelligent home automation lighting.
Relaxing by the pool in the evening comes with water jets and lighting.
Accent lighting, in the evening, highlights the individual areas of this luxurious villa.
Once more, an intelligent control system operates water features and garden, pathway and driveway lighting, with both safety and aesthetics in mind.
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