The World's Most Extraordinary Homes

Piers Taylor and Caroline Quentin head to Norway, where architecture is influenced by incredible landscapes and extreme climate.
They begin on Vega Island, 600 km north of Oslo near the Arctic Circle. It is the stunning location of Vega Cottage, a truly remote family retreat delicately perched on rocks and overlooking the beach. The architects' challenge was to create a home that emulated the traditional fishermen's huts nearby and left the surrounding landscape completely untouched. The result is a beautiful but modest home - the epitome of Norwegian understatement. The second home on their journey is in Valldal, where Summer House teeters on a cliff, overlooking the beautiful fjords. Here, Jan Jensen, one of Norway's most exciting architects, has created an eye-opening eagle's nest of a home. It is a mixture of spaces built into and around the rock face with a series of elevated bedroom pods held aloft on stilts. There is also a mammoth rock face in the living room and an infinity pool hanging in space. Caroline thinks "this might be the greatest house I've ever been in."
House number three is a lakeside home in Ottestad. As its name suggests Concrete House leaves behind the Norwegian norm of timber construction for something more austere. This bold and resolute home is a dream come true for its owners Urda and Tom who have always loved minimalist architecture. But will Caroline, whose first impression is that it looks like "a brutal hospital," be won over by a warm and fun interior and a rather disconcerting array of seemingly random windows. Weekend House sits on a tiny island 100 metres from shore. The last building here blew away in a storm 25 years ago, so it has been built as a fortress against the elements. It has a heavy-duty timber shell that uses 17 moving panels which open to transform the house and reveal a luxurious but highly practical interior. It is the perfect family bolt-hole for its owners Peter and Marianna, who use it to escape city life, fishing for lobster!

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