Apart from being chic and comfortable, a home should also be designed for the enjoyment of its occupants and their guests. It is the ultimate expression of lifestyle, after all, and if you combine these elements with views of the Mediterranean in a peaceful part of La Quinta, the result is this stylish villa.

This elegant villa is just how you’d want a Marbella home to be: set upon a gentle rise with views of the sea and La Concha Mountain. The address is a peaceful, leafy street that offers privacy while being within walking distance of the local golf club and five-star hotel, with their restaurants, spa and other facilities. The driving range and concierge services of La Quinta are similarly on your doorstep, while a short drive will take you into San Pedro Alcántara, Puerto Banús, Nueva Andalucía and Marbella town.

For all that, this home feels like a private oasis of good taste, comfort and homely joys. It exudes a sense of wellbeing that no doubt derives from the passion with which it has been created, for this is a property that blends contemporary luxury and amenities with elements of classical architecture and décor. “It is a home designed to be enjoyed to the full while also offering refinement,” say the owners, who love the process of tweaking a property and bringing out the best in it. “We have done this with our homes before, and used the knowledge gained in the process.”

Every homeowner will tell you it is a learning experience, a skill honed over time that teaches you important lessons about style, space, light and the distribution of living areas. “We bring northern European elements into the design trying not to impose upon the local natural and cultural setting, but to be inspired by it.” Inspired they were, as the property has been transformed into a villa that is pleasing to the eye, welcoming and homely, as well as the ideal place to relax and entertain. For this reason, it is spacious yet cosy, and comes with many lifestyle conveniences.

Balancing Architecture And Décor

A home is in harmony when its exterior and interior styling are balanced and complement one another. This seems self-evident, but it is not always the case. However, it is a feature that stands out in this property, reflecting a lovingly respectful division of labour between husband and wife, who take responsibility for the exterior architecture and interior décor respectively. “For us both are equally important, and together they make a villa beautiful and give it soul, and these are the building blocks for the kind of place you love to spend time in.”

The entrance to the property reveals an attractive courtyard that leads to the front door. It provides a pleasing buffer between street and home that acts successfully as a reception point for parties and truly comes to life with ambient lighting and a modern water feature in the evenings. Inside, the villa is contemporary with warm, soft-toned classical touches of inspiration. The furniture reflects a knowing eye for combining luxury and comfort with statement pieces, in the process creating a living environment that is refined yet cozy.

Each room is spacious, intimate and endowed with natural light and views, with the living room flowing into a state-of-the-art kitchen, both of which open up to a terrace overlooking a large pool deck surrounded by the kind of amenities of which unforgettable Marbella summers are made. This means the swimming pool is flanked by a hot tub, loungers, a stylishly comfortable chill-out area and a beautiful Balinese sunbed complete with curtains, behind which to retreat in complete languid privacy.

Lifestyle Living

What comes to mind is a sumptous living, and indeed, this villa is not only attractive, comfortable and luxurious, but it provides the perfect setting for the enjoyment of the kind of lifestyle that Marbella is made for. The master suite and two bedrooms on the upper floor are well-proportioned and dreamy, with fine quality beds, rugs and linen, lots of closet space and elegantly appointed bathrooms each in their own style and configuration. They open up to their own colonnaded terrace where you’ll want to relax and enjoy the sun.

The lower floor is connected to its own English patio, which leads up to the main garden and pool area, so natural light flows into every room. It contains a further two bedroom suites, a cosy TV room and office with preinstallation for a professional bar, as well as a gym with natural light and direct access to the garden. A double garage fronts one of two carports on the property, both of which offer convenient access to the house. In this, it is a villa in which aesthetics and functionally are well matched, but above all the home stands out for its balance, style and modus vivendi.

A central element in this is the indoor-outdoor continuation of the property, where the ground floor living areas open up to a terrace and pool deck that is also connected to a delightful thatched roof cabaña that is the icing on the cake of this fine home. As everywhere throughout the villa, style and proportion are immaculate, and this wonderful feature offers a comfortable lounge area, professional kitchen and gorgeous wooden dining table that welcomes intimate groups and large parties with equal aplomb.

It is a delightful space two steps from the main house and garden that really opens the house up to the Marbella way of life, made as it is for relaxing, socialising and entertaining on a larger scale. It underlines the fact that this tastefully styled, proportioned, fitted and decorated villa is the ideal home in which to enjoy the good things in life and the outdoor time that this part of the world makes possible for most of the year. It also proves that this can be done with superb comfort and in the finest fashion.

WORDS MICHEL CRUZ PHOTOGRAPHY CHARLY SIMON

Diana Morales Properties | Knight Frank Tel: (+34) 952 765 138.

www.dmproperties.com