Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.In 1961, Charlotte Perriand designed her own mountain home in Méribel in the French Alps, a village she got to know when a developer asked her to create a new ski resort there. The project faltered and Perriand — a French designer who created some of the most groundbreaking Modernist furniture of the mid-20th century — was offered a plot of land in lieu of payment. She chose a spot bordered by a mountain stream on one side and a bank of aspens and firs on the other.The house Perriand built is superlatively rustic, with grey rough-hewn stone walls and ceilings in richly coloured knotted pine. But its furniture, inspired by the Savoyard peasant style of her grandparents’ house, has found its way into more modern Alpine homes. You’ll find the Méribel stool — a slightly angular interpretation of a traditional wooden milking stool — everywhere from Verbier to Zermatt, sometimes in its vintage form or as a new edition (it’s still in production by Cassina). As the Irish interior designer Bryan O’Sullivan says: “It’s good to have a fair number of pieces which have clearly stood the test of time.” When O’Sullivan took on the design of a chalet in Courchevel a few years ago, he finished the interior walls in white stucco, to bounce the mountain light around the interior. He also removed a number of intricate details from the outside. “There were fancy eyebrows above the window frames and little fir trees etched into the balustrades of the balconies. They didn’t feel right,” he says. The house is a big family affair that sprawls over four floors, with a spa and pool in the basement. The living areas are at the top, in the eaves, where exposed wooden beams nod to tradition, while the oak kitchen is warm and cosy. For the dining room, O’Sullivan sourced Model 3758 chairs by the Danish architect Kaare Klint, with solid mahogany frames and shiny leather upholstery (these are vintage, from the 1940s, but Carl Hansen still produces this model today). They sit around a bespoke walnut table made by his studio — “a hearty slab of wood”, he says. But the sofas are sleek, also designed in O’Sullivan’s studio and based on the elegant lines of the French designer Jean-Michel Frank, who created pared-back interiors in the 1920s to 1940s. This play between the rural mountain location and a need for sophistication underpins a new collection of furniture by the London-based designer Francis Sultana. It’s even named St Moritz, after the mountain village. A regular visitor to the Engadin region, where St Moritz is located, Sultana has responded to the needs of his clients who have homes in the area, while also acknowledging local traditions. “Chairs with carved wooden backs and turned feet wouldn’t normally be in my repertoire,” says Sultana. “But I researched the vernacular crafts of the area and it gave me ideas I wouldn’t normally have.” He discovered a world of intricate wooden furniture, embellished with flowers and leaves that, in the winter months, evoke the real ones buried outside beneath thick snow. “The original pieces are rare and sought after,” says Sultana. “So I wanted to create something in homage, which will hopefully have its own legacy.”The architect Arnd Küchel, who lives in Zuoz, a village near to St Moritz, is as sought after as an old Engadin sideboard. He currently has “six or seven big houses and a number of smaller ones” under construction in an area where clients have extensive budgets and demands to match. Küchel likes to experiment. A house for the chief executive of outerwear brand Moncler, Remo Ruffini, was built using yakisugi, a Japanese method of burning wood to make it weather resistant — “You burn it, oil it, burn it, oil it,” says the architect. The result is a 2,500 sq m black mansion in Suvretta, filled with furnishings that include Rick Owens antlered Stag chairs. (Unsurprisingly, they are popular in these parts). The fireplace is carved from a single 30-tonne piece of stone; the outdoor hot tub from a 20-tonne rock. Both are locally sourced. It’s good to have a fair number of pieces which have clearly stood the test of timeKüchel says he often recommends vintage pieces from the 1950s and 1960s to soften the freshness of a new home, and the Zurich-based gallerist Angela Weber agrees that she has a constant flow of clients looking for such designs. “You are thinking of what works in wooden architecture,” says Weber. “I suggest the beautiful lamps by Paavo Tynell,” she says of the polished brass pieces by the pioneer of Finnish lighting design who reached his peak fame in the 1950s. (Alvar Aalto was a fan.) Tynell’s biggest chandeliers can now sell for over £100,000, though Weber has smaller pieces and Gubi has a licence to reproduce certain designs.“The furniture of Axel Einar Hjorth is perfect,” she continues, referring to the Swedish designer who made intentionally rustic-looking wooden pieces from the 1920s onwards. “And historic Swedish textiles by Märta Måås-Fjetterström or Barbro Nilsson.”Otherwise look for something new to add warmth and colour. Luxurious rugs by Beni — an upmarket rug company with products woven in Morocco — are used in the Gstaad home of art collector Emmanuel de Bayser. The name of this new collection? Chalet.Find out about our latest stories first — follow @ft_houseandhome on Instagram
