Zara Phillips is standing on a damp Portuguese hillside, calf-high in bracken,
clover and outsize fungi, surveying a set of posts that demarcate the
footprint of what will, eventually, be her first holiday home. As she pores
over the laminated plans provided by her architect, and looks over acres of
vineyards in an effort to get her bearings, it is clear this isn’t her
natural milieu. “It’s only when the walls go up next spring that I’ll
actually be able to visualise what it’s going to look like inside and out,”
she says. The appearance of a white thoroughbred from the nearby riding
school, out for a valley ride, which she happily goes to stroke, makes her
visibly relax.
» full story
More Stories:
DIY: the women doing it for themselves... » read more
Home loans market is ready to expand, but at a hig... » read more
‘Lower prices signal ideal time to trade up the ... » read more
What 2010 has in store for the property market... » read more
The interiors your home needs in 2010... » read more