Introducing Le Tour

Studio RL began with the landscape itself: the raw forms of mountain stone, the fine lines ski tracks leave across fresh snow, the slow work of erosion over centuries. From that came Ember and Ice, the idea behind every room. Smoked oak, walnut and caramel bring the ember, wrapping the chalet in warmth. Glacial blue and a soft mineral grey bring the ice, running through textiles and art as a reminder of the mountain beyond the glass.

‍

The chalet itself set the terms. Its timber-clad walls, exposed beams and carved balconies were kept and given room to show, as was one of its original features, a green marble hammam in the first primary suite. Everything added around them was chosen for how it feels in the hand and how it will age. Furniture sits low and softly rounded, and the larger pieces are carved from solid timber and stone, made to last as long as the house around them.

‍

“We never wanted to reinvent the chalet. The opportunity was to preserve what made it special, its Alpine character and its connection to the landscape, and bring in the details that make it an August home.”

Francesca, Head of Design

‍

Much of Le Tour exists nowhere else. Studio RL worked with makers, artists and craftspeople in France and Italy on pieces made for these rooms alone.

‍

‍“We wanted the house to feel layered and lived-in, never overly styled. Everything was sourced, found or commissioned specifically for this home.”

Francesca, Head of Design

‍

It begins at the door, with a wrought iron bench from Luigi’s family workshop in Tuscany, the same hands behind the bench at our villa above Mougins. In the living room, a library of raw steel was welded by hand in a French workshop and assembled on site, its clean lines set against the old timber. At its centre hangs a painting of the peaks beyond the window, commissioned for the room, which slides across to hide the desk when the day’s work is done.

‍

Each kitchen in the collection is built around a stone chosen for its region. At Le Tour it is Ocean Fantasy quartz, its layered greens and blues running across the island and worktops. Beside it stands a Lacanche range, made in Burgundy, for fondue nights and long Sunday lunches, and beyond it the dining table and living room gather around a single fire.

‍

The art was commissioned in the same spirit. A drawing of the ridges around Megève waits at the foot of the stairs, and paintings made to mirror the local scenery hang in the primary suites. In the first of them, a blue Henry Holland lamp adds a single note of colour. There is one in every home in the collection, each in its own shade. Even the garden umbrellas were made for August, edged in chocolate to match the chalet’s palette.

‍

The garden was given the same care. Stepping stones lead through Alpine planting, and at its highest point a wooden sauna looks out across the slopes. There is a fire pit for when the light goes, and a hot tub for the end of a ski day.

‍

Inside, the chalet spans 402 square metres across three floors, with five bedrooms and five bathrooms accommodating ten guests. The two primary suites have balconies facing the mountains, while three further bedrooms on the ground floor are layered with sheer curtains and blackout linens. Downstairs, a low, warm TV room is made for films long after the lifts close.