Rightio. Welcome to Belle's April/May 2011 issue also known as the Hot Issue. That is exactly what it is, HOT!
The first house featured, known as 'Solis', was photographed by
Mads Mogensen. It's located on the tropical idyll of Hamilton Island, off the northern East coast of Australia. The brief given to architect
Renato D'Ettore, by the American owner, was for "a three-bedroom house". What a three-bedroom house 'Solis' is! Check it out.
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| Living area overlooking a plunge pool, which turns into a lap pool! |
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| An upper terrace seating area is surrounded by a water garden. Below it is a large BBQ table in the outdoor entertaining area. |
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| The exterior of the house was designed to blend into its' surroundings in order to comply with local building restrictions. |
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| A grand staircase leads down to the ground floor kitchen, dining, living & BBQ areas. |
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| The stunning living area looking out to the plunge & lap pools. |
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| The dining area |
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| Another view of the magnificent lower level living area & dining room |
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| Master bedroom |
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| Terrace view |
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| One of the house's three bedrooms |
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| The main bathroom |
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| A pool in the gardens |
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| The plunge pool at dusk |
The next home featured is a Manhattan warehouse belonging to a family of five. The home, photographed by
Hallie Burton & with interior design by
Ghislaine Vinas, is a whopping six storey kaleidoscope of vibrant colour. Belonging to curator & gallery owner
Paige West, the home's design brief to Vinas, was composed of a thematic guide based on two pieces. These two pieces were a huge
Lisa Ruyter painting which now hangs in the kitchen & a close-up photograph of a brilliantly hued budgerigar which West showed the designer.
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| The foyer |
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| The central staircase forms a spine connecting all the levels of the home. What an eye catching design! |
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| The kitchen with informal seating area |
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| The main living area flows through to the kitchen & dining areas |
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| View from the kitchen dining area through to the main living area |
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| The reading area |
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| The study & what can result from being inspired by a photograph of a budgerigar! |
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| The top floor library |
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| A view of the top floor library |
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| One of the guest bedrooms |
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| Another of the guest bedrooms |
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| The main bedroom. Check out the magnificent pendant bedside lights |
The next home is one that has done the rounds of the blogosphere (I've cheated & not scanned these images from my copy, but taken them directly from
Elle Decor's website as they are the same very photos). I've included it anyhow, both for those who haven't seen it & also because I think it's fab. It belongs to shoe designer
Brian Atwood & was designed by his then boyfriend
Nate Berkus. Photographed by
Simon Upton, this top floor 20s apartment home is located in Italy's fashion capital Milan.
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| The entry |
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| The dining area |
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| The living area |
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| The living area incorporating a work space |
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| Brian's studio which is located in the same building |
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| The library |
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| The library |
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| The kitchen |
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| The Bathroom |
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| The dressing room |
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| The hallway |
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| The main bedroom |
Apologies for such an image heavy post, but can you believe that is only three homes! Look out for part two of my review coming soonish.
If anyone has any questions regarding any of the items in the pictures, leave a comment & I will look up the info for you.
Thanks for sticking with me. A huge welcome to new 'fellow design aficionados' - I am humbled by your willingness to read my posts. Thanks to you all for the support.
This issue of Belle is on news stands now.
Sandy K
[above images impatiently scanned by Sandy K except for the feature on Brian Atwood's Milan home, which was lazily lifted from Elle Decor's web site] 
