Inspirations

Summer Rooms

The living room is arguably the only room we don’t actually need. We sleep, cook and wash ourselves elsewhere. Yet somehow, when it’s not there, its absence is immediately felt. Here are eight holiday homes with a summery feel that have moved this unnecessary yet indispensable space outdoors.

in July 2026

From one place to another

Where does the house end and the sea begin? At Casacosta on Tenerife, that is anything but a rhetorical question.

The terraces of this late-1970s villa are so spacious that they require no particular purpose – you simply move from one to the next as the sun shifts or the mood changes. In the morning here, at noon there, and in the evening somewhere overlooking the Atlantic. These remarkable outdoor spaces owe their survival to two people who weren’t actually looking for a house at all, yet fell head over heels in love with it: Dutch architect Susan Theunissen and her husband Leo Coolen, an art collector. They restored the villa with great care and furnished it with pieces that perfectly suit its character – including its living room, known as the terrace.

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And yet another place

A loggia with a sea-view, a shaded table beneath palms and olive trees, a dining area under vaulted arcades, a roof terrace scattered with sofas and colourful cushions … South of Rome, Casa Nettuno turns being outdoors into a delightful matter of choice.

Michele Busiri-Vici, the architect of this 1950s house, drew inspiration from North Africa, Spain and Greece – and this is evident in every detail. The white, rounded forms, the arches and the coloured shutters create spaces that do not seem planned at all, but rather as if they have grown organically. Anyone sitting on the loggia in the morning, gazing out at the sea, might prefer to move into the shade of the plants in the afternoon. And in the evening, when the mountains of Monte Circeo are backlit, up to the roof terrace.

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Outdoors, under a roof

At Freiform near Klausen in South Tyrol, there is no real distinction between indoors and outdoors – only places that are a little more sheltered from the weather than others. There is a small terrace and, apart from that, plenty of meadows in which to be.

Architect Martin Gruber designed the guesthouse on his father’s organic farm for himself and his wife Anita as a deliberate counterpoint to conventional holiday accommodation. One house instead of the four that would have been possible. Deliberately glazed. Deliberately open. In summer, large sliding doors invite the cool mountain air inside – where the daybed seems to dissolve into the grass, while the bed feels as though it is set right in the meadow. When you rest and relax here, you’re not on a terrace – you’re outdoors, with a roof overhead.

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A house without an inside

What if you simply ignored the boundary between indoors and out? SpronkenHouse, an architectural Gesamtkunstwerk in the hinterland of Valencia, does exactly that.

Six-metre-high columns, frameless sheets of glass and reclaimed ship’s beams for the roof: here, space and negative space are interlocked. Dutch artist and sculptor Xander Spronken designed these two houses for a 13-hectare estate – and it is almost impossible to tell where inside ends and outside begins. By day, life revolves around the pool, a sun lounger and a good book. Long summer evenings belong to the seating area beneath the concrete columns, the open fire and the view towards the mountains. Here, the real living room is the outdoors – and it is wonderfully spacious.

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Upstairs or downstairs

Courtyard or sun terrace? Being enveloped or enjoying an unobstructed view? At Greisslerei Gösing, the choice is less about amenities than about the weather – or simply your mood.

Downstairs, the sheltered courtyard with its seating area and barbecue sits close to the house, making it just as perfect on cooler days. Upstairs, the sun terrace in front of the summer room features loungers made from old metal bedsteads and an outdoor shower. The perfect place to while away a balmy summer evening with a book and a glass of wine from organic winemaker Daniela Vigne’s cellar. Two outdoor living spaces, ideal for sweet idleness – you simply move between them as the sun dictates.

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Nordic by nature

On the shores of the Schlei, the meadow serves as the outdoor living room. And the woollen sofa cover? It is still out and about with its producer – one of the roughly 40 co-inhabitants of this holiday retreat.

Joking aside, the Lacaune dairy sheep kept by the farm owners do indeed graze on the property – and the more curious members of the flock occasionally wander over to the house. Architect Malte Sunder-Plassmann, the family‘s son, boldly placed the fully glazed tiny house right in the pasture of his parents’ organic farm. In the morning, guests are woken by the bleating as Mr Sunder-Plassmann herds his flock to the milking parlour. And when the four-legged coresidents settle down for the night, all that remains is to watch the stars above the Schlei.

More about Hof Ahmen

Between two houses

In Portugal’s Alentejo region, this bungalow is composed of two separate volumes with a terrace in between – complete with pergola, dining table, sofas, daybeds and a pool. Of course there is an indoors, too. But it feels little more than a necessary extension.

The true heart of the house lies beneath the open sky: rattan pendant lights above the long dining table, sofas on the timber deck, and beyond them the vast golden landscape, with pine trees lining the horizon, as a focal point. In the evening, a glass of wine beside the pool, inflatable rings drifting lazily on the water and the setting sun complete the scene. What a delight: Munich-based interior architect Silke Ulbrich-Käferlein designed the interiors with the same sense of calm that the Alentejo landscape exudes outside.

More about Casa Lia

Fireplace, seating area and meadow

A freestanding fireplace with chairs gathered around it – surely that must be the living room. Except this one has neither roof nor walls. The Lenk Lodge really boasts an outdoor living room, complete with sweeping views of the Bernese Alps.

This former farmhouse in the Simme Valley, now more than a century old, has been carefully transformed into a guesthouse with several apartments. The surrounding meadows are as much a part of the place as the terraces that catch either the morning or the evening sun. Beneath an old tree, curved wooden loungers and a hanging chair invite you to unwind, while those in search of company can simply pull up another chair beside the outdoor fireplace. All the while, the Wildstrubel – the glaciated mountain range towering over the Simme Valley – replaces the oil painting on the wall.

More about Lenk Lodge