All language subtitles for Casuchas 4

[Charlie] Imagine
living in a home

that sits secluded in a forest,

on a 100 kilometer beach,
or on top of a mountain.

[soaring music]

In this series we
travel the globe

to explore some of the
"World's Most Secret Homes",

hidden away in truly
inspiring locations

from stunning lakeside escapes

and secluded mountain cabins.

Our favorite activity

is sitting here and
looking at the view.

[Charlie] To coastal
sanctuaries and city treasures.

Spaces like this can
cause the spirit of soar.

[Charlie] We explore

how these spectacular
homes were built.

The whole thing
is on the move,

all the way along
this coastline.

[Charlie] And meet the
people who live in them.

We fell in love with
the nature, the sea.

It was a love at first sight.

[Charlie] As we discover the
"World's Most Secret Homes".

[inquisitive music]

The Chiltern Hills

are an Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty

just outside London.

Beneath these
rolling green meadows

sits a layer of tough, glassy
gray quartz called flint.

Flint has been used to build
houses since Roman times,

but more recently has
fallen out of use.

Today this ancient
building material

has been given a
new lease of life

and has been used to
create an incredibly modern

and secluded secret home.

[pensive music]

Surrounded by fields and farms

with breathtaking views
over the Chiltern Hills,

a remote wedge-shaped structure

pushes out of the ground here.

It resembles a giant
stone door stop.

This isolated home is
known as the Flint House.

[earnest music]

It took five years to
build the Flint House.

Revolutionary in design,

it was commissioned by
Lord Jacob Rothschild,

4th Baron of the famous
Rothschild dynasty.

When you approach the site,

you say to yourself,
well, what is this?

Have they got an
enormous rock there?

And then as you get close to it

you see this wonderful
material of flint

and it's an incredibly
beautiful place.

[birds chirping]
[gentle music]

[Charlie] Lord Rothschild

worked with the architect,
Charlotte Skene Catling

to design this secret home.

The brief began as a house,

I think with three
of four bedrooms.

That was it, so
it was very vague.

The landscape is so
extraordinary when you're here.

I noticed that there
was a lot of flint

turned out on the
surface of the earth.

It turns out that flint
only appears in chalk

and so there was an
idea of trying to reveal

the underlying
geology of the site

by literally extruding
it from the landscape.

[Charlie] To create
a visual balance

the site has two units, the
main house and an annex,

which is a smaller replica
of the larger building.

The main house is 465 square
meters across two floors.

On the upper level,

there are three bedrooms
with en suite bathrooms.

Each bedroom has
its own terrace.

Downstairs is open plan,

there's a dining room and
drawing room at one end,

a kitchen and library
in the center,

and at the other end there's
a living room and study.

The second building is
the 115 square meter annex

which contains a two
level studio apartment.

Upstairs is the master bedroom
with en suite bathroom,

on the ground floor
is the living area,

dining space and kitchen.

[upbeat music]

[Charlotte] Building
in flint of the scale

hadn't been built in this
country for hundreds of years,

it's literally stone age.

[Charlie] A team of flint
experts worked with engineers

to transform this ancient
material into walls

using a process
called flintknapping.

Coming from the German word
knopp, which means to strike,

knapping is the process

by which the full
sized pieces of flint

are fractured into smaller,
strategically shaped pieces

with a hammer.

The resulting shiny,
flat faced pieces

are then used brick-like
to build the wall

using lime mortar.

This is what is so
irresistible about flint,

there's a translucency.

It's somewhere between glass
and something that's alive.

I just find it
completely irresistible

and they've been put
together so beautifully

by the flint, then.

This is incredibly
difficult to do,

where everything is
absolutely, perfectly finished.

[Charlie] With the
darker pieces of flint

used at the base of the house
and the lighter shades above

the changing color

from black flint to
white chalk at roof level

is inspired by the
surrounding landscape.

[inquisitive music]

[Charlotte] It was very much

treating the rest
of the building as a geological extrusion,

where we've got
the lowest levels,

the closest ones to the ground,

in huge black chunks of flint.

Rising up they get finer and
finer, as they go up to the top

until you get to the chalk
where it dissolves into the sky.

I thought the idea of a great
rock coming out of that site

and it being dark at the
bottom and light at the top,

I thought was a very
interesting one.

[birds chirping]
[gentle music]

[Charlie] And the modern
design continues inside.

Downstairs, the living
space is open plan.

At one end is the living area,

the floor to ceiling windows

allow the interior to blend
with the landscape outside.

[Jacob] I think
it's a fantastic room, incredible views.

Incredible.

The space created
within the building

was continuous with the outside,

so that there are no dead
ends, there are no cul-de-sacs,

each room has two
ways in and out of it.

There's a strange sort
of energy that's allowed

when you can continue
these circuits

that never reach a dead end.

[Charlie] The living space

leads into the open
plan dining area.

Here, Lord Rothschild
devised an ingenious way

to carry the use of
flint inside the home.

He's designed a glass
covered dining table

that displays unused
flint chippings.

Upstairs,

three bedrooms are built
into the wedged roof space

and look out onto the
surrounding hills.

[intriguing music]

The Flint House has been
built on low lying land,

near a stream.

Charlotte saw an opportunity

to use the natural water source
in the design of the house,

to create a sense of reflection.

[Charlotte] Water plays
an incredibly important role

in the whole house.

This site is the lowest
point of the whole estate,

so all the water from the
estate drains to this point.

So when we first saw
it, there was a pond

and there was a river that
ran to the side of it,

we wanted to somehow
incorporate it

into the building itself.

So instead of just being

something on the
edge of the building,

it actually runs
right through it

and cuts it in a way that
separates the public spaces

from the most private ones.

[Charlie] And Charlotte

has created something
very magical here.

This is one of my
favorite places here,

this is this most secret
part of the whole house.

I mean the part that you
would never be aware of

if you saw the
house from far away.

It's based on the
idea of a grotto,

the kind that might
have been found

on estates of this kind.

[Charlie] Grottoes
were hugely popular

in the mid-16th century.

Ornate garden grottoes
were a status symbol,

often designed to look
like an enormous cave

or a craggy overhang.

They sometimes housed
baths or even chapels.

[Charlotte] This is a 21st
century reinterpretation

of what that might be.

[Charlie] To
create the grotto,

Charlotte's team dug
a looped water course

around a central core.

They lined this concrete
channel with polyurethane.

They then used a tank
to divert the stream

into the new grotto.

The tank cleans and
cool the river water

to prevent the growth of algae.

They decorated the walls with
8,000 kilograms of white flint

and used lime mortar
to secure the stones

and allow them to breathe.

This new water course is
controlled by a series of weirs.

In the event of a flood,
there are a overflow pipes

that redirect the water
back into the stream.

[calming music]

This mysterious grotto
holds one further secret.

[Charlotte] We've got

the reflective dark
surface of the water

and this black mirror above it.

And by using these two
reflective surfaces in parallel,

you have a infinite space

and it also draws in the
whole landscape from outside.

You see grass and trees in
the movement of the water,

but you see it
flipped on its head

and so you look at it
in a very different way

and a way that you don't

when you just see it
as it normally is.

[uplifting music]

I'm incredibly proud of it.

I think it's a great
asset to the estate,

I think it's a great asset
to domestic architects

and I'm thrilled.

[Charlie] This rugged
flint walled house

really is one of a kind.

It has successfully taken an
ancient Roman building material

and reimagined it
for the 21st century.

980 kilometers southeast

on the border between
Southern Switzerland

and Northern Italy,
lies Lake Lugano.

The area is known as the
Monte Carlo of Switzerland,

with its snowcapped
mountain vistas

and Mediterranean climate.

The glacial lake covers
almost 50 square kilometers

and is famed for its
mesmerizing, panoramic scenery.

[soaring music]

[gentle music]
[church bell ringing]

On the banks of
this magical lake,

in a hamlet and barely
visible from the street,

sits a glassy structure

which reflects the stunning
landscape around it,

this is the Secret Lake House.

Huddled away in the
sleepy community,

this glass marvel is the home
of longtime local residents,

Oliver, Nicoletta, and
their young family.

[Oliver] The town
is a little town.

[Nicoletta] Very small.

[Oliver] 500 people.

The landscape, it's incredible.

[Charlie] Nicoletta
had always dreamed

of living in a
contemporary home,

away from the busy
town of Lugano.

I was living in a
traditional house for 70 years,

and I want to be the new house,
a very, very modern house

with very, very big windows

because the light is
very important to me.

The feeling is like I am
on holiday all the time,

that's my feeling of the house

because when I come back to
my home, I want to be quiet.

I think the house,

that you will love it
or you will hate it,

but I love this house.

[gentle music]

[Charlie] The house
is on two levels,

built into the
slope of the land.

It is a steel frame construction

combined with
concrete and glass.

Upstairs is all about
open plan living.

There's a spacious lounge
with a combined dining room

and on the other
side of the house,

there's a sleek, modern kitchen.

There are outdoor terraces
off each of these main spaces.

Downstairs, there are three
bedrooms, two bathrooms,

a study, and play area.

[upbeat music]

The vast windows allow
the outside of this breathtaking home

to merge seamlessly
with the inside.

The design is all about taking
in the amazing lake views

whilst maintaining
the home's privacy.

This is my public
area of the house.

When people come here, they
say always, wow, always.

The lovely view. Also in the
nights, this space is amazing.

[Charlie] A corridor
leads to the kitchen,

which is clever tucked away.

The light, for me,
is very important.

I want a house with
many, many, many windows.

The outside change every day,
you feel the season so close.

The feeling is
quiet and relaxing

and, for me, it's a
problem to go outside.

[Charlie] The white
walls look seamless

but encased in the paneling
there's a secret door

where a staircase leads down
to the hidden, lower level.

[rousing orchestral music]

[Nicoletta] This is
the internal stairs.

The difference between the
first floor and the second floor

is a big difference,

more or less 70% of the
house is downstairs.

[Charlie] The lower level
is even more secluded.

You will see this is a
very, very private space.

We are down with big window,
big trees, nobody see you.

The feeling of
the room is bigger

because when you wake
up in the morning

you'll see the trees,
so the privacy is total.

[Charlie] The rooms
at the back of the house

are built into the hill,
so don't have windows.

Clever sun tunnels channel
light down from the garden

into the rooms below, bathing
them with natural light.

And you will see the natural
lights, you can see the cats,

you can see my children
playing outside,

so the feeling is like
you stay in a boat.

You feel like a
normal room not down.

[serene music]

[Charlie] Nicoletta
was inspired

having seen the work
of Italian architect,

Jacopo Mascheroni.

So, the glass is
still perfect here.

It was a very simple brief,

a house with, of course,
a spectacular view.

We decided to place
the living area

in the best possible viewpoint.

A glass wall all around

so you could enjoy light
from morning to afternoon.

It was very tricky because
it was on a deep slope.

It's something that
blends into the nature

and into the garden around.

[Charlie] One of the most

complex and costly parts
of the house to create

was the curved glass pavilion.

The glass it's a curtain wall,

is like a system that you
can use in skyscrapers.

It works that you have
these aluminum mullions

and then you have all
these larger glass panes

that are attached with
structural silicon

directly to the aluminum frame.

[Charlie] Remote
control, motorized blinds

hide in the ceilings.

We designed a solution
with roller shades,

so they totally disappear
when they're not needed.

The finishes are
all very detailed.

All the cabinetry is
custom designed by us,

even the sofa and other pieces,

so we take care of every
detail in our project.

For example, the
hardwood floor here,

we design plank by plank.

We number them so they were
installed in a certain way

and every detail is conceived

with the same philosophy
of perfection.

[gentle upbeat music]

[Charlie] Outside
the roof garden

takes in views of
the spectacular lake.

This is where owner Oliver
put his stamp on the property.

At the beginning, the
garden was not like this.

I made a lot of changes.

As you see, there is
a border on the grass.

There is a relationship with
the house and the border

because it's the same
shape on the grass.

There is a little
bit of orient style.

When the people came here,

they get astonished with
the yin and yang concept.

[Charlie] The green roof
helps insulate the lower floor

in the colder months

whilst surrounding trees shield
it from sunlight in summer.

[Oliver] Keeps the
climate downstairs

very mild throughout the year

and you don't need any air
conditioning in the summer.

[Charlie] And the garden
holds its very own eco secret.

[Oliver] We are a very
environmentally friendly

because we collect
the rain water

for the irrigation
of the garden.

We have a large tank submerged
around the top pavilion.

[Charlie] This is
how the tank works,

the green roof sits on
60 centimeters of soil

and pretty much
looks after itself.

When it rains, the water is
stored in a tank below ground.

When needed it's
automatically pumped out

and used to irrigate the garden.

This ingenious,
sustainable system

cuts main's water
usage by around 70%

and is energy efficient.

[gentle piano music]

This is a modern home
full of hidden surprises.

It's a really good building
to respect the land too.

[Nicoletta] We
love stay at home.

We love that house and my
children also love that house.

[Charlie] With
the glass pavilion

offering a panoramic window on
the stunning lakeside scenery

and the lower floor
discreetly tucked away,

it's an ingenious hidden
gem on this majestic lake.

6,300 kilometers west,

nestled in the shadow of
the Catskill Mountains

is the town of Woodstock.

[slow country music]

The nearby woods

are a place of rustic
cabins and hiking trails,

home to black bears,
cougars, and coyotes.

It's also the site of a
secluded and secret home.

[upbeat country music]

Somewhere deep in these woods

is a house that blends
perfectly into its surroundings.

It can't be seen from the road,

it's barely visible
through the trees.

This house lives up to its name,

it's the Inhabit Treehouse.

[gentle guitar music]

The people who own
this remarkable retreat

are Avner and Maskit Ronan,

a couple who wanted a place

to share with their four
children and dog, Jackie,

near their home in
upstate New York.

When we started thinking
about building a treehouse,

the thought was
something very basic

like you see in
children's books.

But then we said,

well, if we want to spend
more time in the treehouse,

we should make it bigger.

[Charlie] Avner and Maskit
worked with a British architect

to create a treehouse
like no other.

When you look at the design,

it looks like a spaceship
that landed in nature

but somehow still belongs and
that's what we liked about it.

You can tell it's foreign

but it still feels
natural somehow.

[Charlie] The treehouse is
a tiny, single level cabin

of just 46 square meters.

The main room is taken up
by living space, kitchen

and mezzanine bedroom.

In the area behind there's a
bathroom and a second bedroom.

[Avner] You know, the
treehouse is pretty secluded,

you wouldn't see it
driving by the road.

There is 35 acres of property.

There is no neighbors around it.

That was very important for us

in terms of finding a
spot where you feel alone

but you're not too
far from civilization.

And every time we come here,

even though it's
been many times now,

every time we step out here
down the path, it's just, wow.

[inspiring music]

We wanted a place
that's outdoors

so that in the summer we
can spend time outdoors.

The shape of the deck mimics
the shape of the treehouse.

Our favorite activity
is sitting here

and looking at the view,

and right now you can
see even the water moving

with the wind,
it's quite lovely.

[Charlie] The treehouse
took a year to build.

Many of the materials
came from the local forest

but the outer skin
is Californian cedar.

The inside is lined with pine

from the surrounding mountains.

The simplicity of the
design is beautiful.

Here is the kitchen

and the couch where
you want to sit down

and look at the view.

So when you walk in, you
just look around you,

you might not notice
that above the kitchen

is where the bed is hiding.

And it was important for
us to have a king size bed

so that you can feel
very comfortable,

and on both sides
there are big windows

so when you lie down there,

you actually feel like
you're amongst the trees.

[Avner] It's all open,

so there's not privacy
in the treehouse.

The first thing you see is you
see the pond and the mountain

and you see out, there's
lots of windows all over.

[Charlie] Behind
the kitchen area

there is a small shower room,

this leads into a small back
room used by the children

and really, that's about it.

Once you have a place to
eat, sleep and keep warm,

what more do you need?

Apart from, of course,

that magnificent
view of Mount Tobias.

The treehouse is a surprising
engineering wonder,

two steel columns support
the house at the front.

These are bolted at the
top to two steel beams.

These beams support
the weight of the house

and sit on concrete piles,
sunk into the ground.

The back of the house rests
on two more steel posts

that also sit on
a concrete base.

A low stone wall
disguises the base

to help the treehouse
blend into the landscape.

Just down from the treehouse
is one more surprise,

also made from cedar.

[Avner] The hot tub
which sits just in between

the pond and the treehouse,
strategically located

so you can run from
the treehouse to the hot tub to the pond

and back, and back,
and back, and back,

and which we think
is part of the fun.

[Charlie] This cabin
may be small in stature

but it's big in the
minds of this family.

[Avner] There's
something inspirational

about waking up and
you're in the trees

and walking around

and you feel like you're
immersed in nature.

One of our favorite
things about this spot

is that you can stand here or
sit here and look at the pond

and Mount Tobias is right there.

Always with this project,
it became much more elaborate,

more involved, more
expensive, took longer,

but eventually it became this
treehouse, which we love.

[Charlie] Avner and Maskit

have created the perfect
playground for their children.

A place where memories
are being made.

5,800 kilometers
northeast is Norway,

land of the midnight sun,
home to 450,000 lakes

and more than 50,000 islands.

This is one of the
most spectacular regions on the planet.

Millions of years
of glacial activity

have carved out Norway's
majestic fjords,

a breathtaking
crinkle-cut coastline

with imposing cliffs
towering above dramatic seas.

It's an exceptionally
beautiful and secluded country

hidden from the
rest of the world.

The tiny island of Rennesoøy

is just over eight
kilometers long.

Perched on top of a cliff

overlooking the Mastrafjord
and the North Sea beyond,

sits a tiny hamlet of
traditionally built houses.

Tucked into the rocky hillside

and with only a fraction
of its structure

visible from the road, sits
a bold jewel of a house.

It's a hidden fjord home.

Owner Ingvild Saether has
loved this island all her life.

We have had a summer house
as a family since I was born

and, really, spent
all the summers there.

I wanted all of us to
be able to be together

at the same time

and when we only had
one place to stay,

it gets a bit crowded
if we were all together,

so that was really
the motivation.

[Charlie] So when
the opportunity came

to buy a slice of land
here just five years ago,

Ingvild leapt at the chance.

At one point there was
this lot coming up for sale,

which is very rare.

I think it's the only time
a lot has come for sale

as long as I have lived here,

but it turned out to be
a quite popular auction.

I think there were like
10 people bidding for it,

but luckily I ended up with it.

[Charlie] It's a decision
she hasn't regretted

for one moment.

One of the important
emotions for me when I'm here

is to feel that this is
my own secret hideaway.

[Charlie] The house teeters
on the edge of the cliff.

It has an unusual zigzag design.

It's 172 square meters

and has been constructed
all on one level.

At opposite ends of the
house there are two bedrooms,

each with a bathroom and
their own seating area.

The central space is made
up of a large kitchen,

living room, and dining area.

[Ingvild] When you
come to this place,

you don't really
see what's inside

and that's part
of the attraction

that you should
get a bit curious,

what is it behind this
wall and this door?

[Charlie] For Ingvild,

having a house on this
island is all about privacy

and that starts at
this rather humble

and unassuming front door.

The entrance is really
modest, in a corner,

and you really have to go
all the way into that corner

to see how you have
this grand view,

when you see straight
out to the ocean.

[Charlie] And
what a view it is.

People totally underestimate
the value of views,

whether it's stormy and rainy,

or whether it's a day like
this where the sea is flat

and you get so much sky here.

[rousing music]

It does something to your soul.

[Charlie] The whole house

is positioned to look out
onto this stunning panorama

and make the most of the views

from the open plan living area

and along to the two
bedrooms at each end.

As president of an
international shipping company,

Ingvild created
this beautiful home

as a much needed escape from
her busy professional life,

but with five
nieces and nephews,

it's also a place for family

and her family have
been involved from the very beginning.

Aye, aye, aye. [speaking
in foreign language]

I called Espen who is my
cousin, who's an architect

and said, I've bought this lot,

would you like to
be the architect?

He immediately said yes.

[Ingvild] It was a
decision and a responsibility

Espen did not take lightly.

I thought that was a
privilege but in the same time

it's not just easy to
draw a house for anybody

but not especially
for a relative,

but I felt that that
was really opportunity

to make something
special out of it.

I think one of the most
challenging part of the process

was that I wanted to be
able to see the mountain,

I wanted to be able
to see the fjords,

the ocean, the hills, the trees.

That was actually
a problematic thing

because if we worked

with the straight line
facade towards west,

we wouldn't have any side
views to the Fjoøloy Isle.

[Charlie] And so this
incredible zigzag design

was created.

Wherever you are here,
there is a unique view,

so there's one here
and there's one there

and there's one
in the next room.

So, when you're walking through

you get different perspectives

and different parts of the view.

It's not easy to capture
a view, 360 degrees

and still have walls and
everything you need in a house.

[inspiring music]
[seagulls crying]

[gentle music]

This house serves
two purposes,

it's a cozy secret retreat

for Ingvild to spend
time by herself,

but through the genius
of Espen's design,

when Ingvild's large
family comes to stay,

extra bedrooms can be
created in an instant.

To make the house friendly,

I thought it was important
to have all spaces and rooms

in one sequence, but, of
course, when you have the need

to divide the building
into several compartments.

And then we had to develop
these sliding doors

which enables the building

to be divided into
different rooms.

This is part of
the living room area

but it can turn into a
bedroom quite quickly.

So what you can do
here is that you can,

there is another bed in here,

and then you can
also close off here

so that when the
children are here

and they want to be by themself,
they can lock this door

and then suddenly

you're in your own
little secret space here.

[Charlie] Houses in
this part of Norway

are traditionally
built from wood,

but Espen had other ideas.

On this western
part of Norway,

the local building tradition
is actually to build of wood,

but viewing the
rock formations here

it occurred in my mind that it
should be more about geology.

[Charlie] Espen flew
in the face of tradition

and chose a gray Danish brick

to blend in with the landscape.

The extra long brick is based
on ancient Roman designs.

It's handmade and
deliberately imperfect

to help create a house

that looks as if it's
emerged from the rock face,

a fantastic idea but it
took Ingvild and her family

a while to get used to it.

I was a bit skeptical

and my mother was
even more skeptical.

She said, I would get
headache from all this brick,

but I think we all agree now

that even if it is a
very solid material,

it feels quite light, after all.

The process with Espen
was quite friction free,

but we had one incident

where he hadn't included
any windows in the bedrooms.

That was an example
of a discussion

which we had for a few weeks.

Espen's concern

was that if I put a
window in these walls,

it wouldn't look nice with a
small window in a big wall.

So he needed to find a way

to maintain the
integrity of the wall,

but I needed my fresh air.

Often a problem

can really be so
destructive for a project

but it ends up with a lucky
architectural solution

in the end.

He came up with this structure

where you have the wall outside

but you have a window
inside that you can open

and you have some
holes in those bricks

so then you're not
puncturing the wall outside,

which was important for Espen,

and I get my fresh air.

[Charlie] Espen has preserved

the structure of the natural
rock around the house

and this limestone also
plays an important role

in keeping the house warm.

The heating
energy in the winter

is coming directly from the
rock face into the floor

and into the building.

[Charlie] A geothermal
pump system heats the home.

Hot, dry rock is
a natural resource

deep below the Earth's surface,

to extract this heat a pipe
extends down 120 meters

into the bedrock.

The heat is channeled
into a system of pipes

beneath the concrete
floor of the house.

This energy, which
is CO2 neutral,

provides 93% of the
heating in the home.

When Ingvild bought this plot,

it was all about the view
and making the most of it.

But as an architect, Espen had
additional ideas of his own

revealing a rather startling
aspect of the house,

the rock upon which it's built.

It's been one of the amazing
things about this house

because rock is really
beautiful to look at.

[Charlie] Espen looked away
from the view of the fjord

and created a secret window.

The window is something
Ingvild did not expect

but it's now one of
her favorite features.

When it's raining, you could
see the water falling on it.

When it's snowing, you could
see how the snow is falling.

In the evenings

when the light outside
is fading, getting blue,

suddenly the view
shifts towards the rock

at the back of the house
and it's like a painting.

The structure comes
out. It's magical.

I never expected that
view of two meters

could be that fascinating.

[Charlie] Espen has created
his cousin's dream home.

It's a work/family relationship

that has panned out perfectly.

I have ended up spending
much more time here

than I would ever imagine.

When it's been very hectic
and busy in my work life,

to be able to get
here on an evening

and lit the fire and
have a glass of wine

and go into a
different mental state

has been so important,
so valuable.

And for the family
here, of course,

it is important that
Espen has designed this

and his mother is so proud.

[Charlie] As a house
created by family for family,

Ingvild should feel proud to.

[serene music]

[dramatic music]