Niche Travel

IT’S NOT THAT I don’t like people, I just don’t much like them around.

If I walk on a deserted beach and spot someone in the distance, I’ll head in the other direction. If I’m out in the countryside, my main aim is not to be able to hear any man-made sound. And my definition of a holiday disaster is spotting someone I know. They’re not proclivities I’m proud of, and the drawback is that they make choosing a holiday hard. Thankfully though, it’s not impossible.

First up on this year’s splendid isolation short list is Le Carré Rouge, a red cube of a building plonked in the middle of the countryside in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France. Designed by an artist, hence the colour, presumably, it is six metres square and concrete, save for one whole wall which is made of glass. Unfortunately, it may be tad too remote even for my tastes, what with having no electricity and no running water.

Better therefore is The Secular Retreat in Devon, the latest creation from Living Architecture, the group spear-headed by philosopher Alain de Botton. Due for completion this year, the blurb for the holiday home, which is designed by architect Peter Zumthor, says it sits in a landscape of “rolling hills, wooded patchwork fields and small stone villages” – hopefully deserted ones.

Best of all however, is Sweden’s Hotel Utter Inn, a traditional wooden cabin, also red, which floats in the middle of a large lake and is reached only by motorboat. If being marooned isn’t enough, I can always go downstairs and hide in the bedroom which is entirely underwater. All I’ve got to do now is find someone to go with.

See tourisme-langres.com, living-architecture.co.uk, vasterasmalarstaden.se.