Designer Napa Valley Estate on Pritchard Hill

This property is on the market for $18,500,000, listed with Ginger Martin & Co.

This 160-acre Napa Valley estate was designed by famed architect Howard Backen. 

The compound is located within the gated Ovid Winery on Pritchard Hill in Saint Helena, and was featured on the cover of the architect’s book “From the Land”. 

Backen is credited with redefining the character of Napa Valley, with his airy and rustic-luxe designs for wineries and residential properties with his signature farmhouse-inspired architecture. 

He custom-built this property in 2004 for the owners of Ovid Winery. The estate has much of the Backen magic, with its reclaimed wood detail and airy spaces designed as an ‘open-air pavilion’ with massive sliding doors that seamlessly blend indoor living with the outdoor courtyard spaces. 

The entire property is positioned to take in the best of the breathtaking views of Napa Valley, with two outdoor fireplaces and a beautiful pool.

The estate provides a total of 10,000 square feet of interior space, with a 4-bedroom main house and two private guest houses offering an additional 3 bedrooms. 

This luxury compound is “more than a wine country getaway, it is the destination.” 

All photos belong to the listing agency.

Château Saint-Calais is the 'Petite Folie' We Need

This property is on the market for €1,990,000, listed with Belles demeures de France.

The former hunting lodge was built in the Louix XIII-style in 1663 for Jean Martel, the bailiff’s lieutenant in Évreux. 

The Normandy residence was converted into a 5-bedroom manor house in the early 18th century, and belonged to the descendants of the Martel family until 1812. 

Monument Historique classifies the building as “Chateau known as Manoir Saint-Calais,” as the property is hard to define.

Is it a chateau, a manoir or a folie? The property definitely has the allure of a country chateau, in miniature, with its Baroque architecture and charming French formal gardens.

A folie is a smaller structure designed to look grand, typically designed with no other purpose than adding extravagance to the landscape—Château Saint-Calais certainly fits the bill with its double allée of landmark lime trees planted narrower closer to the chateau, creating a forced perspective of grandness. 

The term “petite folie” in French also fittingly translates to “splurge”, and this property provides a lifestyle we’d love to indulge in. 

The property has been tastefully and professionally updated and expanded with a guest pavilion, a cottage, and the summer pavilion, restored to perfect condition, with an additional guest pavilion waiting to be restored. 

The 9-bedroom, 8-bathroom  property offers a total of 6781 square feet of interior space, set in a walled 4.44 acre estate. 

With its French formal gardens, period vegetable garden, and woodland setting, the property is truly a pastoral paradise.

All photos belong to the listing agency.

Award-Winning Hidden Island Home in New Zealand

This property is on the market with New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty for $18,500,000 NZD. 

The minimalist Hidden Island Retreat was designed to blend into the landscape of New Zealand’s Jack’s Point Preserve. 

With large glass panes and ample use of cedar and local shist stone, the property has been described as "subservient to its environment" by its award-winning architects Mason and Wales, and has been the recipient of multiple awards at the RMBA Regional House of the Year Awards. 

Inside the residence, the view takes centre stage, framed by oak walls and ceilings and bluestone floors. 

Every room offers access to the outdoor terrace with its reflecting pond, which captures the dramatic views of the Remarkables mountain range and the Jacks Point golf course. 

Set at the edge of Lake Wakatipu, the 5-bedroom, 6-bathroom home is a minimalist masterpiece, featuring two stone structures connected with a glass gallery, positioned to take advantage of all-day sun and spectacular natural scenery.

All photos belong to the listing agency.

French Manor House in Normandy

This property is on the market for €1,400,000, listed with Ivan Ballini Estates. 

This lovely French manor home in Normandy is located just 20 minutes from the beaches of Deauville and 1 hour 45 minutes to Paris. 

The 4.2 acre estate offers an idyllic lifestyle, with beautiful views of the rolling countryside of the Pays d’Auge. 

The property has an orchard and hundreds of rose bushes in the garden surrounding the 18th century mansion. 

The 8 bedroom, 3 bathroom home is spread across 2691 square feet, with several large reception rooms and featuring lovely period detail throughout.

All photos belong to the listing agency.

1920s Villa Overlooking Lake Como

This property is listed with Cameron Avery of Prestige Properties Italy. Price is disclosed upon application with the listing agency. 

This striking 1920s villa in the hillside of Cernobbio on Lake Como, Italy, is set in 1.7 acres of lush, Mediterranean gardens. You can find a herb garden, olive trees, and an orchard on the estate, along with a tennis court and boccia court. 

The gated nouveau villa includes a large swimming pool with gazebo, an outdoor kitchen with pizza oven and bbq. A secondary entrance to the property can accommodate parking up to 20 cars, for when you’re hosting lavish parties at your Lake Como villa. 

With its stunning views over the eastern shore of Lake Como, along with its luxury amenities, the property has incredible potential for rental income in one of the most desirable destinations in Italy. The Italian town of Cernobbio on Lake Como is renowned for its restaurants and boutiques, weekly market, as well as the Grand Hotel Villa d'Este and the dreamy Villa Erba. 

The 5-bedroom, 5-bathroom property is spread across 3 levels, with an elevator, and features soaring ceilings, marble finishes, stunning parquet flooring, and French doors that open out to the various terraces. 

Recently restored and updated, the property features beautiful period detail with a grand art nouveau staircase, and even imported 17th century elements, seen in the front door and the master suite wall mural. 

All photos belong to the listing agency.

Former Georgian Rectory in the Dorset Countryside

This fully-renovated former Georgian Rectory in the English countryside is on the market for £2,500,000, listed with Lodestone Property. 

The Grade II listed property was built in 1780, with the addition of its Georgian facade in the 1800s. 

The 4 acre property is accessed through a gated entry and down a tree-lined drive, and includes an apple orchard and a productive kitchen garden, as well as a paddock, lush with wildflowers in the summer months. There is a lovely terrace in the garden, and a pizza oven. 

The current owners have extensively modernized the 7-bedroom, 3-bathroom residence, while complimenting much of its period details, including original fireplaces, sash windows with shutters, and flagstone floors. 

The home is inviting and functional, with a large kitchen and family room as the heart of the home and lovely reception rooms. A spacious boot room provides ample storage for coats and muddy wellies after a long walk in the countryside. 

The property includes a former coach house and stables, with planning permission for a 2-bedroom cottage. 

Located in Dorset, near the village of Glanvilles Wootton between the towns of Sherborne and Dorchester. 

All photos belong to the listing agency.

Dreamy David Adler-Designed Estate in Rye, NY

This property is on the market for $6,495,000, listed with Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty. 

The Chicago-based architect David Adler is renowned for his elegant European style estates built at the beginning of the 20th century, primarily in the American midwest. 

This country house set on a lush 2.12 acre estate near Rye, NY was built for Benjamin and Hazel Nields in 1915. Adler was influenced by the Petit Trianon at Versailles when building this private residence, according to the Rye Historical Society. 

The  7,450 square foot residence has 7 bedrooms and 5+2 bathrooms, featuring incredible detail throughout with intricate moldings and murals, its grand rooms featuring soaring ceilings, French doors, and wood-burning fireplaces. 

The residence has been updated over the years, yet maintains much of the original Adler magic.

The professionally landscaped gardens and attractive pool enhance the property’s idyllic atmosphere, with the village of Rye and its attractions and amenities just a short walk away—the Metro North train station gets you to Manhattan in 45 minutes. 

A truly rare and historic estate.  

All photos belong to the listing agency.

Luxuriously Appointed English Country House

This property is on the market for £4,250,000, listed with Aston Knowles. 

Wall House is set back behind a walled frontage with 4 acres of grounds, located within a conservation area in the hamlet of Wall in Staffordshire, England.  

The Grade II listed Georgian House dates back to 1761 and is believed to be built on the site of a 16th century residence. The property is accessible via a pillared entrance and features a second gated entrance at its rear with access to Market Lane.

Much of the classically appointed residence has been tastefully modernized and enlarged, with the addition of an east wing with a gym / sauna and garden store. Permits have been obtained to add an additional 20,000 square foot structure on the property in the secret garden next to the walled garden, perfectly appointed for a leisure complex with swimming pool, near the existing tennis court. 

The 8-bedroom, 4-bathroom residence spans 8072 square feet, featuring lovely period detail in the reception rooms, especially notable in the dining and the drawing room, with their original fireplaces, silk wall coverings, and ornate cast-iron radiators. 

The bespoke kitchen is designed by Mark Wilkinson—dubbed the “Mozart of Kitchen Cabinet Makers”by the Sunday Times—and features high end appliances and even showcases the house’s original well, now displayed under a glass panel. 

The garden room, with its beamed ceilings and white Carrera marble with underfloor heating, opens out to the walled terrace with lovely views of the gardens. 

The entire property is wired with a Bower & Wilkins multimedia system, with recessed speakers that are controlled by discrete panels in individual rooms and a central system, allowing you to play your desired soundtrack within the house and throughout its gardens. 

The series of garden rooms throughout the property are linked by gravel pathways, featuring sprawling lawns and even a helipad. 

The paddock is accessible via the secret garden, which itself features a lovely ornate gated entrance from the walled garden. 

The walled garden has a stone terrace with chess board, and features borders planted by Capability Brown, in addition to fine specimen trees and a fountain feature. 

A truly impressive property providing an elevated lifestyle in the English countryside.

All photos belong to the listing agency.

Wayne Gretzky is Selling His Dream Home—Again

This property is on the market for $22,900,000, listed with The Agency. 

This Thousand Oaks estate is so good, Wayne Gretzky bought it twice. 

The hockey legend hired Canadian architect Richard Landry to build his dream home in southern California in 1999 after he retired. 

Gretzky and his family lived there from 2000 to 2007 when he first sold the property to retired baseball centre fielder Lenny Dykstra for $18.5M, to make a move to Arizona to coach the Phoenix Coyotes.

When it came back on the market in 2009, Gretzky jumped at the chance to buy his family home back and invested millions into upgrading the residence.

The 6-bedroom, 8-bathroom home features luxurious finishes and amenities, including a screening room, fitness centre, championship tennis court, and an outdoor entertaining area with wood-burning pizza oven, a lovely pool area with formal gardens and 2 guest houses. 

With his children now grown, Gretzky and his wife are selling their dream home and moving to West Palm Beach to be closer with their grandchildren.

All photos belong to the listing agency.

Country House in The Heart of The Cotswolds

This property is listed for £2,800,000, on the market with Sharvell Property. 

This country house in the heart of the Cotswolds was originally a vicarage, the property was built in 1818 for William Bridges of Cirencester and is set in the charming village of Preston. 

The 2.42 acre property includes the Grade-II listed property, built of Cotswold stone and a coach house with accommodations. Set in beautiful grounds with landscaped gardens, an all-season tennis court, and a pool in the walled garden, its pool house features a lovely covered terrace for dining and an outdoor fireplace. 

There are 2 garages and original stables, and a useful boot room inside the house to store your muddy wellies after a walk in the countryside. 

The country house offers 7 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, as well as several elegantly appointed reception rooms with high ceilings and sash windows with working shutters and open fireplaces. There is a lovely bespoke kitchen (the heart of the home) and a garden room with lovely views out over the property. 

All photos belong to the listing agency.