Built in rural areas and natural landscapes, contemporary country houses allow their residents to take a break from the fast pace of city living and enjoy a more tranquil lifestyle. Designed by some of the world’s most celebrated and award-winning architects and interior designers, these projects are as distinctive as they are impressive. Here you can discover a wide range of architectural designs that offer a new twist on the classic country retreat. Compact or with living spaces sprawled across several volumes, all of these dwellings are extraordinary.

Living in the countryside has many perks, but one of the best is being able to connect to nature on a deeper level. These projects maximize their relationship with the surrounding landscape, whether it’s a quiet village in a green valley surrounded by rolling hills or a woodland at the edge of agricultural land. On this page you can also discover country houses specially built to preserve existing natural features, including old trees or rock formations. Some dwellings cantilever to immerse inhabitants into nature, in a similar way to a tree house.

Inspired by their setting, these country houses have designs that celebrate vernacular architecture or use traditional elements in surprising ways. For example, a large, barn-like building with a transparent screened porch that links two wings. Or a creative design that takes inspiration from the open wing of a bird and the rural landscape of the Australian backwoods. Here, you can also read more about the rehabilitation of a 16th century farmhouse and the design or a concrete extension for a traditional stone house, among many other inspiring projects.