The Design of Retreat

Introduction

The Design of Retreat

The island’s built history was the inspiration for Parisian design duo Hauvette & Madani – formed of Samantha Hauvette and Lucas Madani – when coming up with the interior concept for this penthouse apartment in Ibiza for a client who wanted her very own pied-àterre on the island, both for entertaining and escape. ‘We decided to design it in the style of a local finca,’ says Hauvette, referring to the traditional whitewashed rural dwellings found across the island, spartan shacks made of whatever materials could be found nearby – usually dry stone, sand and clay, and juniper for the long-weathered timber ceiling beams. ‘But we changed everything about it,’ she continues. ‘The bones, the structure, everything. If you looked at the building from the outside you would never guess what was inside.’

A 17th-Century Chateau with Art around Every Corner

France’s Provence region is one of the most bountiful and varied in all of the country – spanning the turquoise waters of the Côte d’Azur in the south and the rugged foothills of the French Alps in the north, passing olive groves, lavender fields and vineyards on the way. This is the landscape that provides the backdrop for the weekend getaway of interior designer Pierre Yovanovitch.

HAUT-VAR, PROVENCE (FR) PIERRE YOVANOVITCH