“Everything is going to be alright” reads Martin Creed’s neon
artwork which spans the length of this dappled, neo-gothic
farmhouse just outside the bohemian enclave of Bruton. It turns
out, everything’s actually going to be pretty great. Renovated by
gallerists Hauser & Wirth, this characterful house is staggered
with bold contemporary design decisions – printed wallpaper and
colour-block furniture – while still paying homage to the
building’s medieval past. It’s a six-bedroom palace fit for
art-world royalty.

What could be cosier than a barn conversion scattered with
sheepskins and velvet upholstery? Bibury Farm Barns doesn’t just
have one such property, but five. While the buildings themselves
might be punctured by centuries-old beams, they’re dotted with
21st-century titbits – botanical bath products, Sonos sound systems
and high-end coffee machines, being three. It also gets bonus
points for geothermal heating. The surrounding area is a prime spot
for amateur ramblers, with Blenheim Palace, Cotswold Wildlife Park
and various cartoonishly perfect English
villages just a stroll away.

It’s the type of sharp-edged feat you might spot on a TV
programme – the kind in which ambitious architects have on-screen
meltdowns – such is the sheer beauty of this mill conversion. From
the outside, nestled in the crook of a river, it’s a patchwork of
original red brick and charcoal-grey wood panelling smattered with
multi-storey slabs of unframed glass windows. Inside, it’s more
homely than its stark exterior would lead you to believe, with a
snug, open-plan kitchen-lounge. This property really sings in
summer, when you can take lunch on the garden terrace with the
water trickling in the background.

Everyone knows that classic Hollywood scene: a car teeters over
a cliff-edge; will those inside cascade to their deaths? It’s a
literal cliff-hanger – the stuff of nightmares. Balancing Barn
takes this trope and reverses it. This luxury, eight-guest rental
property is an impressive feat of engineering which looks like it
should be about to topple into Suffolk’s tumbling wilderness. The
interiors are contemporary – think pixelated wall art and furniture
which looks like oversized origami. Truly daring guests can take a
ride on the rope swing which hangs tauntingly underneath the
building’s overhang. Go on; we dare you.

Given the Vikings’ conquests back in the day, there’s a pleasing
circularity to the idea of blending Nordic and Scottish design –
“Scandi-scot” some have called it. Nowhere is this harmonious blend
better exemplified than here, at the Duke of Sutherland’s former
hunting retreat, where pared-back Scandinavian furniture sits in a
weather-pocked shell looking out over a fluttering lake and Ben
Loyal mountain. There are seven double bedrooms – enough space to
sleep 14 well-fed dinner party guests. Unlike the others in this
list, it’s not self-catered: you’ll have a chef and the food will
be exquisite. Sorry, we couldn’t resist.

It’s hard to believe that this eight-guest property was once
merely a shed filled with clucking chickens (and the related
stenches). Today, those unsavoury rustic elements have been stamped
out. While design-savvy guests will note nods to the property’s
former life – corrugated roofing (in tin, not iron) and wood-panel
cladding, albeit in a chic shade of cedar – this open-plan, country
bolthole is unmistakably luxe. It’s underpinned by polished
concrete floors, warmed by a stand-alone wood-burning stove and
sliced down the side by a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows.

Please, join us in worship at the glassy altar of Secular
Retreat – the 10-guest, high-luxe manifestation of Swiss architect,
Peter Zumthor’s wildest dreams. Natural light saturates every
concrete-smooth corner of this contemporary pad where modernist
furniture (designed specifically for the property) sits in lavish
open spaces, like artworks in a White Cube gallery. The Devon
coast swirls invitingly in the background, just a hop and a skip
beyond the house’s extensive gardens. Peter Zumthor is regularly
referred to as the world’s greatest living architect, so don’t
expect to stay here on the cheap.

No expenses are spared at this
vegetable-patch-turned-super-luxe-crash-pad. Inside the red-brick
perimeter of this Victorian walled garden, you’ll find a cluster of
open-plan glasshouses washed in a muted, earthy palette which open
out onto a well-clipped garden, replete with open-air hot-tubs and
a sauna – your temporary home away from home. It’s an eight-bedroom
party place, but there are smaller properties in the grounds of
Sibton Park Estate too, if you’re looking to host a more intimate
soirée.

Had modernism’s French forefather Le Corbusier upped sticks and
discovered the charms of
Cornwall, he might have built a home a little like this. It has
the same white-stucco charm as his Parisian masterpiece Villa
Savoye, and an end-to-end wall of ground-floor windows which make
it look like a white box floating in thin air. It’s actually the
holiday home of
Soho Farmhouse architect, Alex Michaelis. He was being a little
facetious when he named this 10-guest party house. You’ll find a
hammock, a jacuzzi, a slide and even a trampoline in its grounds –
this is a swarming party palace which begs guests to enjoy
themselves.

Forget everything you knew about the humble beach shack. This
seaside mansion looks like the kind of weekend retreat you might
find tucked among the long grasses of
Malibu or in an exclusive enclave along the shore of Bondi
Beach. It’s in Kent, of course. Cushioned amid the shrubbery of
Dungeness beach, this minimalist bolthole is a real treat for
nature-loving, architecture buffs. It’s pet friendly and sleeps
eight. We’re nabbing the ensuite bedroom with the walk-in shower
looking out over the moody coastline.