Villa Maison

The house steps down the slope in two levels, and the whole idea of it is that you move down through it towards the water.

The upper level is where you arrive. An entrance foyer opens into one long room for living, dining and a lounge with a billiards table, glazed along the side that faces the pool. The kitchen sits beside it with an island and stools, so whoever is cooking is still in the room. Three bedrooms are on this level, each with its own bathroom, and a floating deck runs along the edge above the pool.

A staircase takes you down a level. Two more bedrooms open from here, each 3 × 5.4 m, the largest in the house, each with its own bathroom and each with glass that opens straight onto the deck.

And below that, the water. The pool sits at the bottom of the plot, under the cantilever of the floor above, with a sunken seating area set down into its edge and a ledge to sit on. Steps walk you in. Beyond it, a lawn.

The house is on two levels joined by a single staircase, so every bedroom on the lower floor is a flight of stairs from the kitchen.