A stunning achievement, plain and simple

This 21st century cottage is a masterclass in design, says Rose Martin

It blends seamlessly into a damp, misty landscape, hugging low to the land, even though internally, it has surprisingly large volumes

Back in the 18th century there was a brief fad for the cottage ornee style — aristocrats playing at being peasants, while following a trend set by the French queen Marie Antoinette at the Hameau de la Reine in Versailles. This was a model farm on a small scale where the queen could play house, or even shepherdess. The sudden withering of the fashion on the vine may have had something to do with her untimely, and unseemly, end, but we do have one good example of the trend here, at the Swiss Cottage, near Cahir in Co Tipperary.