My dream home in Scotland

Undoubtably, my favorite home interior in 2009.

After climbing a rather sober green staircase, we step into the dizzyingly eclectic Music Room: ornate mirrors, carved ebony shutters and oval portraits on lilac walls. The chill-out room has a coffee table made from a giant drum set; the chandeliers resemble hovering brass crowns. In a red-carpeted living room filled with chestnut leather sofas and warmed by a roaring fire, we are greeted surreally by a white suit of armour. One wall bristles with antlers, not just of local red deer, but elk, gazelle and antelope from Africa. 'Jura is a place to travel to and a place for travellers - a destination,' says the aptly named Bambi. Somehow, her gravelly Gauloises voice and theatrical delivery make even the utterly obvious sound philosophical. Dressed in jeans, black flip-flops and a Picasso T-shirt over a striped Breton jersey, the Parisian 'of a certain age' peers at us over heavy-rimmed Shoreditch specs and declares Jura 'more glamorous than St Tropez'.



In the bedrooms, you can see what she means. The White Room - the biggest and best - has white walls, cream fretwork headboard and cascades of calico drapes framing harbour views. In the centre is a rolltop bath, supporting Bambi's claim that these are not bedrooms but 'big bathrooms with beds'. This one houses 'part of my private shell collection', says Bambi, 'my heart!' The Bird Room has ostrich-egg lamp stands on the dresser and white plaster birds on the walls, a jokey, postmodern take on suburban 'flying ducks'.

Originally commissioned as home for the Whiskies Jura distillery the five-bedroom lodge is situated on the island of Jura in Scotland. Redecorated by the French/American Bambi Sloan it is available for rental ($2500/3 days)

Read more about the island and the lodge here.

{Sources: Point de Vue, The Guardian }