Island Retreat by Fearon Hay

The Island Retreat house by Fearon Hay Architects sits on New Zealand’s Waiheke Island, looking out over Matiatia Bay. It serves a slick modern reminder of just what a good idea it is to make enough money to buy yourself an escape like this. Forget a private jet and a household teeming with servants, this house is real luxury.

A cluster of freestanding buildings that creates a little courtyard in between them, the house is designed to allow supreme enjoyment of the natural beauty surrounding it while also protecting its family from the harsh weather common to the area. Surely it would feel very good living here.