Travel
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A Modern Retreat at the Far Edge of Ireland
As in all the best B&Bs, tea is offered within seconds of arrival. At Breac.House which opened recently on Horn Head near Dunfanaghy, it is served in little grey goblets of Inishowen clay commissioned from a local pottery. “We wanted a particular shade of grey,” owners Niall Campbell and Cathrine Burke explain, “with a slight purple hue. The colour of Muckish.” They nod through vast windows to the inky mountains of north Donegal. It’s just a detail in a house where attention to detail has been taken to magnificent extremes. A Pantone reference given conversational depth by two Dublin accountants who realized ten years ago that their careers were at…
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Finding a Shou Sugi Ban Retreat in The Hamptons
Perhaps the most cleansing place in The Hamptons, Shou Sugi Ban House is a fully wellness-directed combination of food, instruction, and wabi-sabi aesthetics. Here, Debbie Kropf has fitted the low-lying structures and guest rooms with motifs pointing toward Japan in a fully contemporary Western format. Cedar slatting references both Eastern and Hampton’s architecture, careful landscaping creates a clean break from New York City, and airy, harmonious spaces offer meditation, hydrotherapy, and Noma alum Mads Refslund’s elemental plant-based dishes. About Shou Sugi Ban House Welcome to a place where sea meets sky, and earth embraces ether A space inspired by the principles of wabi-sabi, and wellness traditions that value the simple beauty and healing…
