Tag: estate

Perched high above the iconic St. Jean Beach, Villa Neo is an award-winning estate offering panoramic vistas and unparalleled luxury. The home showcases an expansive main-level deck with outdoor living spaces, a movie screen, and one of the island’s largest pools—a sprawling 108-foot oasis with an overflowing Jacuzzi. Thoughtfully designed, Villa Neo features premier suites, kitchens, living rooms, a media room, and an entertainment room.

Key Largo, Florida

Ocean Sotheby’s International Realty

Nothing’s more important than a first impression. That’s why the atrium has always commanded the focus of the world’s best builders and designers.

Atriums are a tantalizing prelude to the main dwelling. They can manifest as grand halls or ample courtyards that are centrally located, and their prominent placement in the home grants telling glances into adjacent spaces. Most of the time, atriums feature skylights—or the sky itself—and present a feeling of continuity with the grounds or gardens. 

With all these qualities, it’s no wonder atriums are as diverse as the luxury residences that house them. Here are five properties that show how to furnish an atrium so that it’s truly the foreword to the home, and not just another footnote.

Grass, Glass, and Glamour

​​Patricia Wadzinski – Sotheby’s International Realty – East Hampton Brokerage

For this classic yet contemporary coastal getaway, the atrium serves a traditional purpose in an innovative way. Primarily, it’s a gathering place that can be seen from multiple vantage points within the home, while also providing views of the interiors, gardens, and outdoor dining pavilion—like a gorgeous glass prism through which the rest of the property is refracted.

Not all atriums are so fully furnished. But this one shows how turning these central areas into multi-functional social spaces provides a peaceful setting where homeowners and visitors can relax in the fresh air, surrounded by vegetation.

A Total Work of Sculpture

Sandy Binder and Danielle Laria – Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty

This property showcases a modernist spin on the conventional atrium. Set in the center of a 1974 construction by architectural icon Norman Jaffe, it fulfills the atrium’s typical mission of being a light-filled foyer that opens onto other areas of the building.

However, this one takes it further with meticulously located lighting installations in the floor and ceiling, which make it ideal for a sculpture garden. Indeed, atriums frequently double as galleries due to the fact that they allow so much natural illumination through their skylights. But this home’s immersive glass showcase goes above and beyond, because the property itself is a trophy any bona fide art collector would aspire to acquire.

Where Lush Meets Plush

Aaron Reid – New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty

In this incredible converted warehouse, the atrium acts as a nexus between indoor and outdoor spaces. Situated on the main floor, it’s the intersection between the gourmet kitchen, scullery, dining room, and lounge behind it, and the heated pool, hot tub, and barbecue patio before it.

Both the bountiful plants and the proximity of the pool are appropriate for an atrium, as these transitional areas are often graced with greenery or festooned with water features to accentuate their naturalistic ambience.

Merging Light with Height

Gerry Gretschel and Tom Williams – TTR Sotheby’s International Realty 

One reason why atriums are so popular in larger structures is because they provide an immediate sense of scale by enabling sightlines to multiple floors. This can also work well in private residences—as long as the home is suitably spectacular, like this property commissioned by A. James Clark and completed in 1978.

The atrium is a perfect cube, with an open ceiling that leads to a skylight above, and is furnished in a flexible, pragmatic style. It could be a quiet sanctuary for poring over a book, a pleasant atmosphere for conversation with close friends, or the perfect place to throw a party with dozens of invitees.

Functional is Fashionable

Maria Lopez and the Heyman Team – Sotheby’s International Realty Downtown Manhattan Brokerage

Dating back to 1910, the atrium of this historic townhouse is a paragon of its time. In these properties, atriums are located on the primary “parlor” level. Here, it’s an extension of the living space that feels like a combination of an elegant nook and a luminous solarium, poised between the living and dining rooms on one side, and the balcony and floor-to-ceiling windows on the other.

Like other atriums, this one allows its admirers to observe the home in a more complete context by juxtaposing the interiors with the exteriors, while also delivering a direct line of sight through the main living space on the other. And as it’s entirely enclosed and not exposed to the elements, it’s also an ideal gallery for works of art and artisanship.

Overall, atriums don’t just make a statement. When done right, they’re a residence’s signature, distilling its mood, setting, surroundings, and aesthetic into a single, memorable locus.

Atriums can showcase your favorite works of art—but what about a residence’s other spaces? Discover how to anchor rooms around your statement pieces.

The hallmarks of this soothingly streamlined new five-bedroom home in Studio City are easy, breezy open living spaces and panoramic views afforded by its prime location. A Thermador-appointed kitchen and living, dining, and family rooms give way to a 620-square-foot deck with mesmerizing mountain vistas. The primary suite features an eye-catching stone-surround gas fireplace; a sleek, chic spa-inspired bath; a private balcony; and an expansive wood-paneled closet and dressing room with a wide variety of storage options, including drawers, hanging racks, shelves.

Discover luxury homes for sale and rent around the world on sothebysrealty.com

Pause for a moment, and take a breath. Are you aware of all the ways your senses are being engaged by your surrounding environment?

Color palettes and natural light can evoke moods and emotions, while richly ornamented surfaces can amaze and excite. Sound, scents, and taste also have a subtle yet profound effect on your well-being. And how you feel emotionally is partly determined by what you’re feeling physically, which is why touch and texture are so crucial.

Architects, decorators, and landscapers are becoming ever more aware of the synergies between the sensory elements in the spaces they create—and today, the engagement of sight, sound, scent, taste, and touch are key factors in fashioning and furnishing luxury homes.

This is known as “sensory design.” At a time when homeowners are increasingly focused on wellness, it’s an emerging trend that promises serious staying power. Here’s why it’s essential to consider each sensory element in home design, as well as a best-in-class example of how it can be done with excellence.

Sight

Despina Laou – Greece Sotheby’s International Realty 

Colors and patterns can cause or alleviate stress. But although soft hues, soothing neutrals, and natural shades are typically associated with relaxation, remember that their impact is subjective and can be customized according to personal needs.

Despina Laou – Greece Sotheby’s International Realty 

There are many other ways sensory design engages the sense of sight, as demonstrated by this hillside villa near Mykonos. The size and location of windows—as well as their window dressings—helps control the abundance and quality of light, as do lighting fixtures and their shades.

The views through those windows, as well as access to the outdoors, are also vital. With its vast patio and breathtaking sightlines, calming organic tones, and elimination of clutter through efficient storage, few homes prioritize visuality in such a thoughtful way.

Sound

Guy Bradshaw – United Kingdom Sotheby’s International Realty 

Both sound and silence contribute to effective sensory design. Spaces may be built to maximize acoustics, or they may be soundproofed to minimize noise. And though it may be counterintuitive, auditory installations can actually help improve a home’s tranquility—just think of the serene ambience cultivated by a shishi-odoshi bamboo fountain.

Guy Bradshaw – United Kingdom Sotheby’s International Realty 

Water features, acting as conduits to replicate the peaceful soundscape of the natural world, are important factors in the sonic and aesthetic design of this contemporary country house close to Windsor Castle. With approximately 10 acres of pristine woodland and an award-winning garden, soothing sounds abound outdoors—and indoors, integrated audio technology allows homeowners to bring music into their living space as they please.

Scent

Christopher Muller – Luxembourg Sotheby’s International Realty

The sense of smell is as fundamental to the aesthetics of a home as seeing and hearing. After all, the part of your brain that processes scent is contiguous with the regions responsible for memories, associations, and emotions, making this the most evocative of your senses.

Christopher Muller – Luxembourg Sotheby’s International Realty

There are many ways to optimize scent through sensory design. For example, materials such as cedar and eucalyptus have naturally pleasant odors, while candles and diffusers can enhance a space’s aromatherapeutic qualities. This luxurious loft apartment in Luxembourg-Dommeldange follows another best practice by nurturing ornamental greenery that purifies the air.

Along with fragrant vegetation, high-performance insulation and dual-flow ventilation keep the interiors of the home fresh and pollutant-free.

Taste

Agnes Pinaire – Propriétés Parisiennes Sotheby’s International Realty

The kitchen is the heart of any home, and is a high-traffic hub of gathering and activity. It’s also the area where the flavors of a favorite snack or a family recipe come alive, and where the sense of taste is most readily engaged. So the question is, can sensory design moderate this space without detracting from its deliciously one-of-a-kind character?

Agnes Pinaire – Propriétés Parisiennes Sotheby’s International Realty

With gourmet appliances, ample cabinetry, and vibrant yet muted light shades in an eclectic mix of earth tones, this remarkable residence tucked away in the heart of Paris has the type of kitchen designed for good taste—literally and figuratively. Other sensory-forward features are its multiple dining areas—one that extends from the kitchen, and a second more formal setting—as well as a designated wine cellar on the basement level.

Touch

Ged Hay and Nadia Hay – New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty 

Whether it’s comfortable furniture, cozy rugs, plush upholstery, or abundant cushions and pillows, fabrics have always played a palpable role in sensory design for touch. But softness isn’t a prerequisite for a rich and rewarding haptic experience.

Ged Hay and Nadia Hay – New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty 

Materials like wood, granite, and marble are highly tactile and engaging to the senses, and are used to great effect in this unique estate perched amid the mountains of New Zealand’s Motueka Valley. Red cedar and oak, as well as magnificent mantles of locally sourced stone, lend it the tangible warmth and charm of a European lodge. And since effective climate controls are another way to satisfy the sense of touch, all three of its fully equipped suites have fireplaces and air conditioning.

When homes are crafted to engage all five senses, they elevate the well-being of all who inhabit them. By intentionally and unobtrusively augmenting the sights, sounds, scents, tastes, and textures of living spaces, sensory design unlocks a whole new level of lifestyle.

What will constitute the ideal luxury residence in 2024? Before exploring the possibilities, revisit the luxury home highlights from 2023.