A house can be a true work of art . Since the earliest days of modern architecture , there have been rare and valued examples of architects creating domestic spaces that represent a complete synthesis of every aspect of their art and approach . The German term for this all-encompassing approach is gesamtkunstwerk – ‘ total work of art ’ – and it resulted in some of the grandest and most accomplished pieces of residential architecture ever made . The opportunity to live well while also enhancing global architecture culture on a grand scale is rare . Finding a site , commissioning an architect , and creating a house that embodies a sense of place as well as world-leading innovation is rarer still . To find seven such houses in one location is therefore truly unique .
La Reserva is such an opportunity . Perched high in the foothills of the Sierra Almenara , overlooking the sparkling seas of the Costa del Sol and the horizon revealing the distant forms of Gibraltar and Africa , La Reserva ( 1,154 acres / 467 hectares ) is the next chapter in the illustrious history of the 5,000-acre privately owned real estate and leisure destination ; a slice of beautiful Andalusian countryside , the most beautiful and secluded hideaway on the coast .
La Reserva will be set within a landscape developed by Jean Mus , the highly decorated French master of Provençal and Mediterranean landscape design . Renowned for his work at Ritz Paris , Palais de Monaco and numerous private residences along the Mediterranean , Mus ’ masterplan unites the relationship between nature and architecture , with strictly indigenous planting allowing the terraces and gardens to blend with the surrounding hills .
Here , scattered within private and secure communities will be a limited number of ultra-contemporary residences , from € 2m , of exceptional contemporary architecture and allied in their orientation to nature ’ s rhythms , the landscape and the passage of the sun and changing seasons .
At La Reserva ’ s apex , high in the hills , within its own private and gated community , will be seven world-exemplary residences ( from € 13m ), taking Sotogrande ’ s sense of exclusivity and seclusion to another level .
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