Cornish cabins and designers’ holiday homes, from the Hamptons to Formentera

Designers George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg came to their Amagansett house by chance, but once they were in, the East Hampton location became a crucial place for them to expand on their creative approach. An escape for the founders of Toronto- and New York-based design studio Yabu Pushelberg, the beachfront house is a clear reflection of their creative values. Durability, functionality and a soulful minimalism are key elements shaping the space.

‘We found the property while flipping through a [newspaper] real estate column on a flight back from London,’ Glenn Pushelberg tells us. ‘We weren’t looking for a new place, and when we went to visit, we didn’t love the existing house on the site – but the moment we saw the view and the surrounding neighbourhood, we knew it was home.’ Join Rosa Bertoli for the full tour.

As you wander the grounds of Casa Bonavita, a new 17-bedroom hotel in Malta, it is easy to forget you are in a hotel at all. With its golden limestone walls, palm-fringed pool and gardens scented with jasmine and orange blossom, it feels more like the home of a particularly fortunate friend. That, its owners Christopher and Suzanne Sharp explain, is entirely the point. The founders and former owners of The Rug Company stumbled across the dilapidated 18th-century house in 2010 and were instantly bewitched. Over the next 15 years, they gradually brought it back to life, first as their family home and now as a hotel.

‘My inspiration has always come from memory rather than a particular design style,’ says Suzanne, whose London-based studio designed the interiors. ‘I grew up in Malta when life was slower and houses were lived in rather than styled. There was an ease to the way we lived and entertained that has stayed with me. We wanted Casa Bonavita to feel like a much-loved home where everything has found its place over time.’ Ali Morris checks in to find out more.

Designers Clémence Pirajean and James Lees had been visiting Formentera for 20 years before deciding to put down roots. Accessible only by boat from neighbouring Ibiza, the smallest and most southerly of Spain’s Balearic Islands is loved for its crystal-clear waters and peaceful, unhurried pace of life. Property on the tiny island is scarce, so when the opportunity arose two years ago to buy a 1960s-built family home there, the couple jumped at it.

Set between a protected natural park and a sleepy residential area, the house’s interlocking volumes rise from the surrounding greenery. The architecture offers a modernist interpretation of the traditional Spanish finca, with terracotta roof tiles, exposed timber beams and shaded pergolas.

Since founding Pirajean Lees in 2017, the couple have become known for creating atmospheric hospitality interiors. But renovating their own home was a very different challenge. ‘Being objective about something this personal is much harder than it sounds,’ Pirajean tells Ali Morris. ‘Being the client and the designer at once makes it far harder to be decisive.’ Take a flit to Formentera to see the results.

Trone is an irreverently named French bathroom brand flush with success. Founder Hugo Volpei has transformed the humble toilet into a sculptural object of desire – think stepped bowls, asymmetric lids, transparent cisterns, and coloured and terrazzo-flecked finishes. His luxury loos, such as ‘Icone’, pictured, and an unobtrusive new smart model, are surely the way to go.