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"View Slideshow\n\nWhen building in a place that already has a dominant style, it's important to behave yourself,\" says London-based designer Anouska Hempel. \"Look around; refer to what you see. In the mountains above Salzburg I saw charming chalets and wildflower meadows. The chalets are cozy\u2014I don't do cozy. The meadows are in a soft disarray\u2014I don't do soft, and I don't do disarray. I do order.\"\n\n\"My reference was the mountains themselves, magnificent, and perfect triangles, with a peak in the middle and equal sides,\" she continues. \"You can't get better symmetry than that, and it deserves a response.\"\n\n\"The package must be strong and controlled, the rooms aligned and the windows positioned. Fluff it up, and you've got big trouble.\"\n\nThe house Hempel designed has pediments that echo the triangular shape of the mountains; deep eaves exaggerate the shape. The central section of the house has equal sides to balance things out. \"It all goes back to Palladio, the master of symmetry,\" she explains. \"This residence is a contemporary interpretation of his ideals\u2014offered with respect and humility.\"\n\nThe owners knew of Hempel's work; they had often stayed at Blakes (see Architectural Digest, April 1988) and The Hempel, the London hotels she designed. They had clippings of favorite rooms, many of them done by her.\n\nThey asked her to design the interiors of a new house whose construction was well under way. But the rooms that Hempel had in mind wouldn't work unless the exterior was simplified and given classical proportions. \"I'm not an interior decorator; I'm a designer, and that includes the architecture,\" she says. \"The package must be strong and controlled, the rooms aligned and the windows positioned to make sense with the furniture. Fluff it up, and you've got big trouble,\" she continues.\n\n\"Trust me,\" she said to her clients. They did. She adjusted the proportions and added horizontal and vertical elements to create a strong framework. Canvas panels slide in and out of walls, blinds slide up and down, and lattice screens glide in every direction to control the light and the view.\n\n\"My reference was the mountains themselves. You can't get better symmetry than that, and it deserves a response.\"\n\n\"My work is all about ups and downs and ins and outs,\" Hempel explains. \"Sometimes the light off the snow is so strong, you feel it could come inside and eat you up. A sliver of light is enough. And in the spring, you want all those greens to come through to the center of the house. The owners can filter the light and fiddle with the view as much as they like.\"\n\nWhen the Alpine sun is warm, they can even have lunch outdoors at the edge of the snow. The push of a button retracts a glass wall on the pool terrace, and a broom clears the snow from the terrace and packs it to a neat edging. A gentle touch moves screens on ball bearings out to the edge of the snow and positions them to frame the peak of the mountain. \"The terrace is a glazed pavilion that embraces the garden,\" says Hempel. \"The walls can be fully opened to allow the owners to entertain under the canopies.\"\n\nIf heating is needed, it's right there, built into the table and the columns. The technology is German, and it is very, very good. \"I love working with technicians,\" Hempel says. \"I tell the engineers what I want. They say they can't do it. We have an argument, and then I say, Figure it out.' They do, and we all learn something. It can't be done' is not a phrase I recognize.\"\n\nShe designs for surprise. In the entrance hall, the staircase landing runs above the front door, and guests enter under what seems to be the ceiling of a room of normal height\u2014until they move forward and discover a doubleheight space.\n\nIn the master bath, the tub is on a glassed-in balcony, seemingly suspended among the pine trees. \"It's like sitting in your own little forest,\" Hempel says.\n\nNothing is left to chance. Even reflections are encouraged. The legs on the tables and the chairs are deliberately spindly, and thin shadows and reflections become stripes that extend the depth of the space. Painters know that trick; so does Hempel.\n\nThe palette throughout also takes advantage of the light. Dark brown and black fabrics and furnishings absorb the light and are a counterpoint to the white plaster walls.\n\n\"Clear mountain light furnishes these rooms,\" she says. \"Chalets enclose the light; this house opens up.\"\n\n\"This is not a Sound of Music house. It's not a Mozart house either,\" says Hempel. \"Too austere. I wanted to create a unique house that would belong to the beautiful mountains.\""^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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