Sparked by the release of the second season of The Crown on Netflix, this week, I feature her Majesties residences. If you haven’t watched The Crown, do consider watching it – it’s fabulous. At $130 million it is the most expensive TV series ever! With widescreen televisions you cant create a cardboard Buckingham Palace and get away with it and so… Alas, I binge watched it over the weekend and now must wait a year for season 3. Sigh! The Queen has reportedly watched it. Claire Foy and the series are nominated for a Golden Globe. Have you been watching The Crown? What do you think?

Sometimes the topic comes up of could you live like this. And my answer is always: Yes! It’s life in a fishbowl perhaps, but it’s a very nicely appointed fishbowl. And oh yes there are several bowls and they are surrounded by acres of walled garden. I have lived inside a walled property – its very nice. When I first set eyes on walled properties in Los Angeles – I thought how sad. But then in Haiti and in Cameroon I did live within a walled property. Turns out its very nice. When you arrive home, the gate is opened, you drive in and leave the hustle and bustle of the city outside. It also means that when in your garden you are in your own private space.

These are the royal residences used or owned by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. There are other royal residences but, well, another day.


Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire Scotland has been a royal residence since 1852 since being purchased privately by Prince Albert, and Queen Victoria. It was designed by William Smith of Aberdeen with modifications by Prince Albert. Its style is Scots Baronial architecture. I remember reading that Prince Albert decorated the Castle with oh so many tartans – its seems to have evolved. Some family pics here.

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Typically we look at architecture which we can only dream off living in. But this week let’s look at homes that are available to live in if only for brief periods of time. Rentable luxury!

My goal is not to promote airbnb and other short-term rental organizations but more to promote the fact that not being able to afford to purchase some of these amazing homes we contemplate does not necessarily have to deny us the experience – not completly.

My favourite is Costaguti Palazzo in Rome. The combination of classical detail with contemporary furniture is fantastic. I’d need to round up a few friends to rent it all out. Of course that can be the case of a few of these.

Click the title above each pair of pics if you wish more detail. At times finding more info on the architecture of the properties was challenging as the rentable aspect took over the Google search.

Praa Sands Beach House, Praa Sands Cornwall, UK. A study of modernist geometry designed by Alex Michaelis of Soho House.

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