Seaview Tavern, Malin Head, Inishowen, County Donegal www.donegalcottageholidays.com/blog/ballyliffin/malin-hea...

Image 2 of 20 from gallery of Tower Restoration in Huercal-Overa / Castillo Miras Arquitectos. Photograph by Fernando Alda

Tainaron Blue Retreat is housed in an early 19th-century stone tower that boasts stunning panoramic views of the sea and mountains, sited in Vathia, Greece.

You will be delighted by the grandeur of this European-style house plan. Entering the porch between two verandas through the porte cochere, your eyes are drawn to the grand foyer's double spiral staircase, winding its way to the second floor. The first floor has an inviting guest room with a sitting area, perfect for reading or enjoying the view out the back windows. The main living triangle consisting of the kitchen, breakfast room and family room receives added light through the 25' ceiling tower that leads to the breakfast patio out front. The study has a fireplace with access to the veranda, grand foyer and patio. The living room separates the main living area of this house plan with the master suite. When you finish in the study, relax in your private master with exercise room, private patio, sitting area, his and hers walk-in cedar closets and elegant master bath. At the top of the spiral stairs, you will find two bedrooms with a Jack and Jill bath, plus a fifth bedroom with a bath. Entertaining is a breeze in the bonus and game rooms.

I was lucky enough to spend a night recently at one of my favourite places, Portmeirion, on the Dwyryd Estuary in North Wales. I first visited Portmeirion as a child, and this extraordinary Italianate village, created by a brilliant if slightly eccentric architect, Clough Williams-Ellis, made a great impression on me. I've returned many times since, and I still find it as entrancing as ever. Because Portmeirion is so exotic,and so unexpected, some people think it outlandish, but not only is the setting lovely, there is a sense of fun and joyfulness about Clough's creation that makes a great many people feel good, simply by being there. And when the weather is excellent, as it was on this visit, it really is a terrific place to be. Yet Portmeirion's strangeness did make it the perfect setting for that classic cult TV series The Prisoner, and it's also the setting for a recent crime novel, Fear in the Sunlight, by Nicola Upson. This is the latest in her series featuring the writer Josephine Tey as a character. Her version of Tey differs from the description of Tey given to me by a family member who knew her, but is nevertheless appealing. In this story, Tey is staying at Portmeirion along with Alfred Hitchcock and his wife Alma, to negotiate a deal that will see Tey's novel A Shilling for Candles adapted into the film Young and Innocent. The Portmeirion meeting did not happen in real life, but it's a great idea, and Upson's evocation of the fantasy village is probably the strongest part of the book. Murder does not happen for about 200 pages, and some readers may feel that this was too long to wait. But the trip to Portmeirion was the ideal time to read the book, and I have little doubt that Nicola Upson likes the place as much as I do.

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11. INTERIOR, STAIR HALL - Doheny Mansion, 501 Doheny Road, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County, CA