Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Laidback life in the American west
Scenic Byway 12, on the All-American Road: could southern Utah’s most famous byway be any more alluringly named? Also justifiably named, though, given it runs through a land of absurdly scenic buttes, petrified forest, mesas and sandstone canyons and escarpments (its most famous monument: the Grand Staircase, a not-of-this-world labyrinth of arches and slot canyons carved by the millennia-long passage of the Escalante River). Ofland Escalante has been here for some years, operating its collection of Airstreams and cottages under the name Yonder Escalante.
When it reopens for the season in March, it will be rebranded and expanded: there are 10 new deluxe cabins joining the existent inventory, each with its own semi-private garden lot, deck and firepit – plus access to all the property’s public areas and facilities, from its “drive-in” cinema (grab a seat in one of the very cool vintage cars parked facing the giant outdoor screen) to its local general store and pool-jacuzzi area. ofland.com, from $99
Back to the Landet in the Stockholm archipelago
“Sweden” and “cabin” go together; the Scandinavian country has always had the corner on sleek, sustainable, diminutive houses located in areas of pristine (or close to it) beauty. Such is Landet, a new collection of ultra-contemporary one-bedroom cabins set to launch next month – just four to start with, but the owners will bring the total up to 10 by end of this summer. They’re in a 400-hectare nature reserve just outside the 18th-century town of Trosa. The area is all scenic timber farmhouses and pretty canals, around an hour’s drive from Stockholm in the archipelago where Stockholmers have weekend and summer houses.
Designed by Andreas Martin-Löf, the 40sq m timber-and-glass cabins, with floor-to-ceiling windows on at least two of their four outlooks, appear to float above the land. The interiors, by 8 Holland Street’s Tobias Vernon, are (naturally) light, neutral and with a pronounced Scandi lean. Each cosy living room has a fireplace and dining area; the kitchens are furnished with everything an accomplished chef needs, and the Landet team will deliver seasonal food from local restaurants and farms. The bathrooms have heated floors, a rain shower and sweeping views. landetstay.com, from £270
On Kangaroo Island, ocean views, G&Ts and haute-cabin style
Oceanview Eco Villas on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island is a two-person, two-key operation. Its owners Tim and Tamsin Wendt live in their own, gorgeous house on their 500-acre waterside property and have constructed two further two-bedroom houses with knockout views over the St Vincent Gulf. The “villas” take design cues from the contemporary Australian vernacular, so are much more cabin- than villa-like: wood decks, huge picture windows, local hardwood for the joinery and handmade furniture, stone fireplaces. The island is known nationwide for the excellent quality of its dairies, oysters, produce and wines. Tamsin Wendt is an accomplished chef, and prepares all the meals between her own state-of-the-art cook’s kitchen and your villa’s well-appointed one; you can enjoy them at your dining table or out on your terrace.
Before dinner, you might meander down through the tea trees to the cliff’s edge for a sunset G&T (Kangaroo Island Distillery’s London Dry won a best-in-the-world distinction in 2019; Tim deploys it generously, along with a few pink peppercorns, in his mix). A few curious wallabies and the grey kangaroo that are endemic to the island might come to see what’s up. The Wendts can arrange excursions – natural or cultural – across the island, from lavender farms to tastings to Admirals Arch, way down the southwest corner of the island, with its fantastic stalactites and (hugely entertaining) fur seal population. oceanviewkangarooisland.com.au, from A$3,270 (about £1,700)
