There are times when I come across a weekend home so unconventional, so interesting and so challenging I lean back in my chair and can do nothing but marvel at what the world has to offer. To then discover this lovely vision of quirkiness is so close to my budget of USD$100,000, I can barely contain my enthusiasm.
I wonder if you can guess where it is?
This concrete water tower is just the unusual sort of weekend home I’m looking for regardless of its location. Lush surroundings, close to water side picnic spots, low maintenance (concrete tends to be) and undoubtedly a talking point. Even better, the interior belies its grim facade with a light and airy bedroom, functional kitchen, renovated bathroom and stunning solid wood stair case. It’s also absolutely move-in ready.
Guess the location
USD$133,000
Impressive bespoke solid timber staircase provides the internal wow factor
A room with a view? Oh yes please
An airy bedroom to take in the crisp, clean air
A small but well formed kitchen, perfect for preparing appropriately light meals
And the view? Lush, watery and exotic. I can almost feel the summer heat permeating the woodland. Could you want for anything more?
Answer the quiz anonymously here or leave me a comment if you’re feeling brave!
(Thanks for playing. The very few Francophiles among you were spot on. It’s located in France)
When I overheard my three year old son bellow “WAKE UP YOU FILTHY MONKEY” to our languid cat this morning, it became patently clear.
We’ve been watching too much Madagascar.
Alex, Marty, Melmen, Gloria 2005’s Madagascar
I’m not at all surprised to find though Madagascar was released nearly a decade ago, it continues to make money hand over fist. Since there are 130 million children turning three each year the market is continuously flooded with eager eyes and parents eager to please. Madagascar’s creator’s DreamWorks (AKA CashWorks) say the film has grossed USD$500 million and fortunately for company shareholders, the film’s profit making potential shows no signs of abating.
There are also a further two Madagascar films (not as good as the original of course) as well as Madagascar 4 in development. The spin off Penguins of Madagascar will be released in November 2014. So there will be five mega money making Madagascar movies and must have promotional toys relieving me of my money by the year’s end.
You know where I’ll be in November.
So I’m bravely taking my head out of the sand to accept we have been watching excessive Madagascar. Now I need to take some sort of action. Obviously I could turn the TV off indefinitely (but I’m not known for masochism) or I could encourage him to watch something more cerebral like Discovery Channel or heuristic like Cebeebies.
The child in me however thinks we should fully embrace his obsession for the African island itself and find a weekend home there.
Live it and watch it.
An island just like San Diego Zoo?
I usually pride myself on my Geographical prowess but I confess Madagascar – the country – is a bit of a mystery to me. I loosely thought it was a small island located in the southern Indian Ocean, just over a narrow strait from Mozambique.
To my surprise Madagascar is actually an eye watering 1600 kilometres from mainland Africa. More than three times the width of the English Channel. It follows there are no ferries from Mozambique to the island, so we will have to fly in and out. Luckily there are 11 airlines connecting Madagascar to 23 cities, 160 times per week.
As for being a small island, Madagascar is shockingly vast. Almost as big as mainland France. Since it takes ten hours to drive from Calais to Marseille, then Madagascar must be very large indeed.
Needless to say Madagascar has unparalleled natural diversity. It is also a WTO Least Developed Country so as visitors we will be sure to tread ever-so-lightly to minimise both our environmental and cultural footprints.
I guess that means we won’t be roasting freshly hunted wildlife on a spit while we sit on a beach drinking Bourbon and Redbull. (Not that I would do that. Really)
This little cottage in central Madagascar instantly appeals. It is easy to see its French colonial influence and it wouldn’t look out of place in Languedoc-Roussillon. Perhaps with the addition of cornflower blue shutters.
This place is crackalackn’!
Once again utilising my ‘school girl’ French, this house has two bedrooms, panoramic views from the terrace and balcony and a separate garage. The kitchen is in need of an update (it’s currently mint green and pink) but nothing a DIY’er couldn’t handle.
Its location is stellar. Fort Veyron is within sea-water-spitting distance from Antananarivo Airport and a few kilometres from the town’s University. Rental potential in the off season is assured.
But the really special feature of this cottage is its quirky and endlessly humorous fireplace.
Stare at the fireplace for ten seconds. Focus! What do you see?
The resemblance is uncanny
The ‘Melmen the Giraffe’ fireplace totally sold it for me and I know my son would go completely Foosa for it.
How I miss the cast of FRIENDS (Ross, Phoebe, Rachel, Chandler, Monica and “ladies’ man” Joey). Photograph Annie Leibovitz
When the pilot of FRIENDS was filmed twenty years ago, panicked NBC executives descended on its Burbank studio to express a rather disturbing concern to co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane. NBC regarded the character Monica (played so deliciously by Courtney Cox) a little too, well, slutty for American TV audiences.
Kauffman and Crane disagreed fervently and as a compromise allowed the pilot audience to be surveyed. NBC staffers then handed out cards to each audience member inquiring if they found the Monica – sleeping with someone on the first date – story line offensive. According to the finale interview with Matt Lauer, the questionnaire started something like this:
Do you think Monica – for sleeping with a man on the first date – is:
A) a whore
B) a slut
C) a tramp
D) your dream date
Nice.
Curiously NBC was soothed by the result. Monica’s – bizarrely and unnecessarily slut shamed – character was subsequently allowed to proceed unchanged and unchained.
All this before the second episode was in the can.
Joey was a ‘ladies man’ and Monica was a ‘slut’? Has much changed in 20 years?
Even though I remain an utterly devoted FRIENDS enthusiast, I continue to be annoyed by that disclosure for several reasons.
First, the character Joey “How You Doin” Tribbiani had regular one night stands. Even when we could’t see him having one we could assume that he was, just somewhere else. How peculiar network executives weren’t scared of Joey.
Second, the survey was so biased and skewed toward heterosexual men that it was hardly a valid question at all. How would a gay man respond to it? Women of any sexual preference? If I was in the audience that auspicious day I would’ve been highly offended by the question rather Monica’s perceived promiscuity.
Third, Monica was so much more than just her love-life. She was absolutely a feminist, a professional chef navigating the NYC culinary boys club, a nurturer who generously encouraged her friends to use her home like a hotel, a highly organised organiser and confident confidant. Monica also liked to win, particularly when she was competing against herself.
She was also the character I most connected with.
Monica cleans her vacuum with a vacuum. Like it or not she did everything with pride, conviction and engaging physical humour.
Monica and I shared many things, including our love of Chandler. Chandler was definitely my FRIENDS crush, sweater vest and all (Joey could be a little too vague and Ross liked dinosaurs). To me Chandler was intelligent, handsome and endlessly witty. He was also proud of Monica’s feminist viewpoint which of course makes him ever so manly.
Much like the character, Chandler Island is an intriguing and quirky prospect off the coast of Maine, USA.
Maine itself is located across the Bay of Fundy from Nova Scotia (Anne of Green Gables). It’s known for bountiful lobsters, picturesque New England villages and rugged outdoor activities. Maine certainly is for the adventurous (code for deck yourself out in The North Face gear).
Maine borders Canada on the east coast
Sunny summers and winters requiring woolly sweaters and wellies
The realtor describes the island as thus.
Located in picturesque Wohoa Bay, Maine, 30 miles east of Acadia National Park, 70 miles southeast from Bangor and 230 boat miles northeast of Boston MA is quaint Chandler Island. It is one of the smaller Maine islands at “an acre more or less” (according to the deed). Which means at low tide it is a lot more, while the high tide area is only about half an acre: the size of an average suburban yard. The island is nestled protected in the bay, but does have line-of-sight of the open ocean. The island can be reached by boat at all times, docking between main and sandy- beach island, and even by foot at very low tide, when the water is only waist-deep.
First let me say half an acre of above-tide-land is much larger than average suburban yards where I come from. Half an acre is large enough for at least 6 tennis courts and I can’t help but wonder where the realtor lives if she thinks that is an average size yard.
Maine perhaps?
A private island called Chandler? Oh yes please!
Chandler island is bigger than it looks
There’s no reason – with a little elbow grease – Chandler Island couldn’t end up looking like Beldon Island, Connecticut below, is there?
Beldon Island, CT is for sale through Sotherby’s for USD$3,950,000
If you don’t fly your own flag who will?
So we’ll need a petite cape style cottage and some landscaping. Perhaps a wooden jetty and some sand to build a small beach. The house and landscaping will have to cost less than $60,000 if we’re to stay in budget, so we may have to think teeny tiny. This Tumbleweed Loring Cottage may just be the ticket and since Tumbleweed are the pioneers of the – much publicised – Tiny House Movement, we know it will be highly functional. And oh so cute.
The Tumbleweed Loring cottage may just come in budget and isn’t it divine?
Just adorable! All we need on our private island.
Sure it will be a lot of work developing this one.
But if I really am like Monica then it’s my destiny to fix a Chandler don’t you think?
This distressingly private, five room, naturally rammed earth hole may be just the hideaway you’ve been looking for. It has power, water and remarkably generous dimensions. Altogether impervious and sound-proof, this cave house is also completely unrenovated; humbly begging you to add your elegantly pathological touch.
Conveniently isolated and psychologically gratifying all at once. What more could you ask?
Who could resist this cocktail of sloe gin, amaretto, Southern Comfort with a twist?
I’ll confess straight up I’ve had a busy week and – as anyone who lives in the countryside can likely empathise – I have done an extravagant amount of driving. Between airport drop offs, grocery runs and other far flung commitments, I’ve driven almost 800 kilometres. All in a matter of days. And I haven’t really gone anywhere.
After extensive Googling I’ve decided to accept there are no luxurious rehab centres in exotic climes for sufferers of Extreme Driver Fatigue. (Please God, inspire someone to invent one, preferably overlooking the Andaman Sea)
So there’s nothing else to do but to hide the car key and fix myself an inspiring cocktail. Not my usual Pimms either. I feel like I need to get sloe down.
Alabama Slammer
15 ml (1/2 oz) sloe gin 30 ml (1 oz) amaretto 30 ml (1 oz) Southern Comfort Dash of lemon juice
As I sip my drink (to slam would be to waste) I realise rather quickly I need a porchto go with my drink. And perhaps a swing chair, balmy heat and some southern hospitality.
Alabama may be the perfect location for a weekend home. Beaches and BBQ sound good to me.
It would be easy to talk in cliched tones about Alabama – sass about hillbillies, pick ups and Confederate flags – but I’m not buying into that narrow vision. Not when this classic song swirls in my mind as I take another sip of my cocktail.
Alabama may just be everything good about the south. Charismatic music, poignant civil rights and indigenous historical sites, pristine beaches on the Gulf, comforting cuisine and heat. Serious heat. All things that pique my curiosity particularly when here it’s six degrees outside tonight.
When I happened upon this house I couldn’t believe my eyes. So close to my USD$100,000 budget and so utterly beautiful it took my breath away. I know it may be too expansive to be a low maintenance weekend home but, well, I don’t really care.
Circa 1840 the house is – quite rightly – on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a L-shaped two-story home on nearly two acres. Four bedrooms, two baths, ten foot ceilings, plaster medallions, heart pine floors, new kitchen (which I’d probably paint), fenced dog yard (we country folk like those), detached office (hello craft room!) and garage (for the enormous ‘pick up’ I simply must have).
Perfect symmetry, pillars and to-die-for black shutters. Stunning
Delightful grounds
Two words. White. Paint.
A quick polish of the floors and I’m moving in. The wallpaper? If it’s in good condition, it stays, I love it
This rather large 3,100 square foot family home has four bedrooms and two bathrooms. Since it will go to auction it’s hard to pin point the exact price.
This gorgeous pile has such huge potential I can barely contain myself. Other houses on this historic street sell for triple the price range. Though the other houses on the street probably aren’t in the same state of disrepair. This poor old dame has been trashed, I suspect by the previous occupants.
A southern classic
I’ve lived in worse, I really have
This glorious southern belle is also on Dauphin Street and is for sale for $399,000
I’d be happy in any of these weekend homes but I’d have to ship my entire family out to Alabama to be with me.
The 2014 FIFA World Cup final – between powerhouses Argentina and Germany – is finally upon us. The forthcoming finale makes me feel quite jolly. I like football, I really do. It’s just that I’m terribly tired of commercial network news programs peppering us with unimaginative images of beautiful, hairless people slinking along Impanema or Copacobana under the guise of ‘reporting live from Brazil’. It’s driving me crazy. (I confess a small part of me wondered if a TV network executive was responsible for the gunshots fired at Copacobana this week so yet more beach scenes could be broadcast.)
Who knew Brazil was only a sandy knoll – populated by bare bottoms – on the Atlantic?
I’ve also been praying furiously to the God of Fashion – Anna Wintour – Brazilian swimwear doesn’t catch on like the torturous Brazillian itself. Actually, if I’m going to be honest, I really was hoping the ‘skort‘ would come back in fashion. Perhaps retro skirted swimsuits. Or at least some frilly frills. More lycra not less please Anna. My thirty something bottom needs at least partial housing; it’s laissez faire rather than derriere extraordinaire.
I’m all for women wearing whatever they like. But really, I just can’t chase a three year old around looking like this.
Less of this
More of this! (Elegant frills without the spills)
Yes, I know what most men reading this post are thinking. More of that, less of this!
OK, until you alllook like this guy I recommend you be cautious where you toss your stones in your proverbial glasshouses. Though, if you looked like this guy, I’m not sure you’re interested in women’s swimwear at all. You’d likely favour fitness over fashion.
Touche?
Oh dear God, let me move on.
So anyway, I decided to have a weekend home ‘world cup’ this week and let the football final decide where we look for an abode.
Suffering for my art, I woke up obscenely early on Monday morning to watch Brazil and Germany fight it out live. If you missed it, the first 15 minutes were fairly energetic, then Germany scored a staggering four goals in six minutes. Brazil suffered what we call “plot loss”. By two thirds of the way through the first half Brazilians in the crowd were crying, some were praying (perhaps to Anna Wintour?).
Stop it. Please.
The suffering continued early Wednesday morning. Argentina and the Netherlands failed to score until a penalty shoot out, after extra time. Possibly the most defensive, cautious and dull game of this World Cup. As I watched, I wished I was sleeping. At some points I may have been.
So let’s start our search for a weekend home in Germany. Brace yourself. Unlike many European countries, the German realty market is strong; knock-your-socks-off expensive.
Exclusive Baden Baden – on the edge of the magnificent Black Forest – is south of Frankfurt and just over the Rhine from France. So overwhelmingly stylish is this town I think if James Bond was into spas, this would be the destination for him. A glamorous casino, baths with Victorian splendor and a mix of summer and snow adventure sports. Although you’d need to head to the Alps for serious skiing, Baden Baden is close to several ski resorts including Baiersbronn (8 lifts, cross country trails and endless James Bond cello-case-tobogganing potential).
The idea of a weekend home in the centre of Western Europe really appeals to me. As well as having the option of sunny summers and white Christmas’. Baden Baden isn’t cheap cheap though. In fact we won’t get anything for our USD$100,000 budget in one of the prettiest towns in Europe. So we’ll search close by.
Baden Baden is an hour and a half drive south of Frankfurt and four hours east of Paris
Clearly. I’m over budget. But since the interest rates are so reasonable in Europe (thanks Angela Merkel) we may be able to stretch a little. This is the only accommodation I could find near the town for under USD$275,000.
This – ready to update – two bedroom apartment is close to the spa and cuckoo-clock action. And it’s as lovely as a Black Forest Gateau.
Sunny Baden Baden Yellow exterior
And a sunny Baden Baden Yellow interior
The sunny Baden Baden Yellow continues on the terrace
Will I take it? Let’s let the final decide.
We cant forget precioso Argentina. So let’s head south to Mar del Plata. The busy beach paradise is a four hour drive south of Buenos Aires. Once a fishing village, today it is a stylish seaside mega-resort. Before you scoff at the idea, consider there is so much to do in Mar del Plata you’ll never tire of it. Like Baden Baden, it has spas and a casino. But it also has the added benefit of heat, endless beaches and endless family activities. Not to mention Argentinian food. Si por favor!
Mar Del Plata is a four hour drive south of Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires
It’s main beach can be popular on public holidays and high summer
I absolutely adore this two bedroom townhouse in Pompeya Mar del Plata. It’s reasonably new but I think it has an adorable character. I love the kitchen, the floors even the grill. What a lovely retreat from the crowds.
Oh yes, I could cook up an Argentinian storm on that grill
A few streets from the beach
A blank canvas
Will I take it? Let’s let the final decide of course.
I think if Germany can be as strong, skilled and structured as its real estate market, they will win. Just.
Deutschland gehen!
(And they did win. Just. Wasn’t it incredible?)
The erudite New York City chef and – self confessed – former drug addict is now arguably the food and travel multimedia powerhouse of our time.
The fearless provocateur peppers acerbic musings throughout his TV series, books and columns with enviable ease. Maxims to make me slap my thigh with gleeful approval; “Vegetarians and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans … are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit” or “as a chef I’m not your dietitian or your ethicist, I’m in the pleasure business” and my favourite, “your body is not a temple, it’s an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.”
And he won’t pause after such quips and stare down the camera – for effect – daring you to respond. He moves on. He doesn’t really care what you think.
It takes courage to be that cool.
Anthony Bourdain, whats not to respect?
Anthony Bourdain is also an insightul social commentator. Just read this superb post on Mexico.
Americans love Mexican food. We consume nachos, tacos, burritos, tortas, enchiladas, tamales and anything resembling Mexican in enormous quantities. We love Mexican beverages, happily knocking back huge amounts of tequila, mezcal and Mexican beer every year. We love Mexican people—as we sure employ a lot of them. Despite our ridiculously hypocritical attitudes towards immigration, we demand that Mexicans cook a large percentage of the food we eat, grow the ingredients we need to make that food, clean our houses, mow our lawns, wash our dishes, look after our children. As any chef will tell you, our entire service economy—the restaurant business as we know it—in most American cities, would collapse overnight without Mexican workers. Some, of course, like to claim that Mexicans are “stealing American jobs”. But in two decades as a chef and employer, I never had ONE American kid walk in my door and apply for a dishwashing job, a porter’s position—or even a job as prep cook. Mexicans do much of the work in this country that Americans, provably, simply won’t do.
We love Mexican drugs. Maybe not you personally, but “we”, as a nation, certainly consume titanic amounts of them—and go to extraordinary lengths and expense to acquire them. We love Mexican music, Mexican beaches, Mexican architecture, interior design, Mexican films.
Of further interest to me is that Bourdain omits a glaring parallel; that Mexico could be rather like Bourdain himself. The once seemingly corruptible drug addict, searching for global salvation as a preeminent food and travel icon?
Does that not also describe Mexico in many waystoo?
Put simply, Bourdain’s redemption and his elevation to American – phoenix like – hero is just the sort of development strategy Mexico could implement to guarantee its renewal and perhaps a new position in the modern world. A cleanse and purge rehab then to emerge as a world class – safe and eco friendly – travel destination, sans the cartels.
I can’t think of anywhere more exciting to look for a weekend home.
Cancun, Mexico
Cancun is on the eastern side of Mexico and considered a gateway to the Caribbean. It may not be the edgiest destination in Mexico – towns like Cabo San Lucas on Baja are just too expensive – but it has everything we need for a weekend home. An international airport, historical sites, art and culture, beaches, heat and to die for food. And it’s entirely, overwhelmingly beautiful.
Cancun Peninsula, best avoided during American ‘Spring Break’
Snorkel around the sculptural installations in Cancun’s Underwater Museum
Yes I know. Bourdain wouldn’t go for this beach front condo because it’s too cookie cutter. But he’s lugged his small daughter around New York enough to know that if the children are happy, the parents are happy. My three year old would live in the water slide playground below if I let him.
And since this condo is only one bedroom, I may have to let him.
Oh yes please
Apartamento muy pequeño? Tiny!
Waterpark within complex
I think Bourdain would understand if I go with the condo with a dedicated children’s area.
OK, that’s a long shot.
I’ll take it nonetheless.
See Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations in Mexico here.
Prominent American photographer and trail-blazing conservationist Ansel Adams once mused “a great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.”
I wonder if his images left even him deeply surprised.
His landscape photographs were often so epic and astounding not least because they were strikingly devoid of anything man made but they captured something natural happening; affecting and changing the landscape. Changing our viewpoint forever. True feats of nature.
Lyall Fork looming large over Ansel Adams
Iconic Jeffrey Pine yields to Yosemite’s wind
So my question this week is – when it comes to extraordinary landscape photography – have we seen it all? Has the best there is already been reprinted on endless calendars and posters? Or can a scenic photograph still leave you feeling entirely surprised?
Astonishing imagery or obvious cliche?
I’ll boldly suggest this photograph by Thomas Uts would’ve appealed profoundly to Ansel Adams. It lovingly captures so much more than light flooding a charming – soothingly linear – woodland. It’s also more than its technical mastery and a slow – hold your breath – shutter speed. And although this photograph was captured a world away from Ansel Adam’s beloved NoCal it may just have the same ability to mystify.
This image is so surprising and utterly special for one simple reason.
Can you guess? Kan du gissa?
This incredible photograph perfectly captures the sun shining in summer.
At midnight.
There are a handful of countries that spill over the Arctic Circle where you can experience 24 hour sunlight but for me Sweden has been the ‘Land of the Midnight Sun’ since a family summer holiday there in 1986. I remember the idea of the sun never going down was wildly exhilarating, just as it should be for a child! We were based with local friends in Vasteras and the trip was one of the most memorable of my childhood.
Our visit to Sweden certainly left a lasting impression. There were so many sites and experiences to absorb but – for me – the most unforgettable were the brisk dips in the lakes and the trip to the family summer house. I also remember playing on the most perfect green lawn as hedgehogs rustled in the bushes, picking endless fresh berries with my sister and the air smelled of crispbread. I also remember the sun shining late into the evening.
It really was that idyllic.
So as summer begins to thaw Sweden this June, my mind is naturally turned towards buying my own delightful fritidshus or Swedish weekend home. And because I have the fondest memories of Vasteras, I am focusing my search around the nearby lakes to the town’s southwest towards Gothenburg (Gothenburg is a convenient gateway to southern Europe with regular car ferry crossings to Denmark). Although I won’t have a midnight sun this far south, we can easily do the drive north whenever the ideal weather is predicted. Bra plan?
Vasteras is west of the Stockholm archipelago and within easy reach of many recreational lakes
My ideal fritidshus doesn’t necessarily need to be Falu Red but it absolutely must have character. It will also have a guest cottage or ‘sleep out’ for kids, breathtaking water views and be south west facing to ensure maximum exposure to that famous Swedish summer sun. I certainly wouldn’t want to be sitting by the fire in the dark in my summer hus staring across the lake at other cottages bathed in sunlight. Nej tack. So a south westerly aspect or sunny entertaining deck is just about essential.
With all those requirements in mind, I’ll need my entire USD $100,000 budget. Perhaps a little more.
I know, I know. This cottage is over budget. But hear me out.
This two bedroom, two story Falu Red house overlooking majestic Lake Stora Le is fully renovated yet retains rustic character. There is a matching red guest house and plenty of sunshine. Lake Stora Le borders Norway and is around two and a half hours north of Gothenburg or four hours from Vasteras. It stretches my budget and perhaps weekend driving distances but I just love its vantage point. Could it be more happily situated?
I’m so comforted this delightfully sunny cottage is close to Vasteras. It’s an easy 30 minute drive from centre of town on Sweden’s famous Lake Malaren and with only two bedrooms, a living area and a small updated – eat in – kitchen to maintain, it’s just the liten hus I’m looking for. Swedish flag and all.
Even the easterly aspect doesn’t put me off this cottage. We’ll have to sit by the water for evening sun.
What should we do today? Swimming, fishing or lolling about on the lawn?
This is the one. I’ll take it.
These simple summer houses are unquestionably picturesque and engage with the environment flawlessly. I feel an astounding inner peace just looking.
I wouldn’t at all be surprised if Ansel Adams approved of such a weekend home.
Seeing this invigorating cover of HGTV Magazine this week really got me thinking.
A blue and yellow decor renaissance?
Blue and yellow decor is officially on trend, just in time for the Northern Hemisphere summer. Magazines, Pinterest and endless blogs are ablaze with decorating ideas boldly using this – oh so easy to get wrong – colour combination. I do like what I see but have to wonder if I can embrace this trend. I’d have to work through my painful recollections of these hues. They’re just so tainted.
I haven’t seen bold blue and yellow used seriously in interior design since that awful coastal decor craze in the very late 1980’s and early 1990’s. Remember all those pointless blue and yellow accessories so many of us had in our living zones and bathrooms? Blue sofas with yellow cushions. Yellow spray painted coral stuck to blue signs saying ‘life’s a beach’. Blue starfish shaped soaps . Tissue box covers made from small yellow cowrie shells and seahorses – there were plenty of seahorses.
The rule was if it was yellow or blue it was indeed for you!
Perhaps its a universally excruciating memory because I can’t find any photos of this trend online. At all. Boy have I tried. It really is the fad that time – and thankfully Google – forgot. (It does beg the philosophical question; if a trend doesn’t appear on the internet, does that mean it didn’t exist?)
All I could unearth was an image of this wallpaper border on currently for sale on Ebay and it gave me chills. Coastal chills.
Ring any decor bells?
By the time the mid 1990’s rolled around I began to associate blue and yellow more with with IKEA. Coming off the back of the coastal decor craze, I really was OK with that. I like IKEA. No matter what the design purists say every house needs a little bit of IKEA. It’s what connects us to the rest of humanity. It used to be religion. Now it’s IKEA and the three wise bookshelves Billy, Expedit and Hemnes.
Extra Ikea nulla salus.
So now blue and yellow have been delightfully rebooted. And I have been wondering who really does it best and would the scheme be soothing enough to work at all in a weekend home.
I found the answer in Morocco.
You see, while I’ve been grappling with my Pavlovian aversion to blue and yellow. Moroccans have been doing it with aplomb. For a long time.
Rabat is Morocco’s capital and perfectly positioned between Tangier and Casablanca on the Atlantic coast. The climate is more Mediterranean than African it seems with temperatures in summer reaching 30 degrees centigrade and evening lows in winter literally freezing. This contrast makes for comfortable living in my book and far from the blazing heat I would have expected.
OK, some tourist reports imply it could be in the top ten of the worlds most boring capital cities, edged from the top spot by Ottawa and Canberra. But I don’t buy that. It has a fabulously colourful souk, UNESCO World Heritage sites and wide palm lined boulevards. Boring or utterly livable? With houses like these to choose from, I think the latter. Just the sort of place for a blue and yellow weekend home.
This delightful 2 bedroom, bijou riad in central Rabat is superb. Blue and yellow – how it should be – for just over USD$60,00. Each time I peruse the photographs, I can’t believe it could be mine for such a price.
Quite possibly the most beautiful front door I’ve ever seen. Blue and Yellow magnificence.
Stunning painted fretwork.
Light and airy central courtyard with a blue spiral staircase.
This airy one bedroom mezzanine apartment (according to my school girl French translation) has plenty of room for entertaining and stunning views over the Bou Regreg river. There may not be an overt blue and yellow detailing but everything about the panorama croons blue and yellow. The view of the blue sky and river juxtaposing the sand beds and yellowy building skyline is lovely. I’d wager these hues would change constantly with the movement of the northern African sun and become truly alive as the sun sets over the Atlantic Ocean beyond. What more could we need?
Blue and yellow views in Rabat.
Arched windows in the living room.
It’s gorgeous and USD$46,000.
I’ll take it.
So a snap poll this week of my friends has revealed I’m just about the only person I know who hasn’t experienced the magic of Tangier, Meknes, Fes, Chefchaouen or Palmeraie and Marrakech. Yet no-one I know has spent time in Rabat.
I’d quite like being the first I know to discover Rabat’s pleasures and pick up a weekend home that will have everyone falling in love with blue and yellow again.
A WEEKEND HOME 