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The Libra Guide, London (2026)

21/09/2026

📍 7 Koppies, Franschhoek, South Africa

High in the hills above the Cape Winelands, 7 Koppies is a deeply personal expression of its owners, James and Marc, and of the places and cultures that shaped their lives.

Both spent parts of their childhoods in Italy, and when they imagined a home in Franschhoek, they wanted to recreate those memories: long lunches outdoors, roaming freely through nature and evenings accompanied by the sound of cicadas. The name itself looks back to James’s childhood in Rome, built upon its legendary Seven Hills.

But there are many stories woven into this house. The original farmstead’s Cape Dutch character remains in sash windows, Dutch doors and the pitch of its roof, while William Morris fabrics nod to its Arts and Crafts influences. Marc’s architecture also draws on James’s Sri Lankan heritage, with outdoor pavilions inspired by Sri Lankan temple architecture and the indoor-outdoor philosophy of architect Geoffrey Bawa.

Stone, timber and concrete are deliberately left raw and allowed to age, reflecting a belief in the beauty of imperfection and ensuring the house feels increasingly part of the rugged landscape around it.

Perhaps most beautifully, the farm also closes a family circle. Marc’s grandfather left Germany for South Africa in the late 1920s, leaving behind an estate in Berlin. Generations later, James and Marc found this hillside farm at the tip of Africa. They like to think of 7 Koppies as his legacy: the house he might have had.

Photo credits: 7 Koppies

19/09/2026

📍 Il Borgo del Balsamico, Reggio Emilia, Italy

In the countryside outside Reggio Emilia, two sisters, Cristina and Silvia Crotti, have transformed their family home into an intimate stay dedicated to one of Emilia-Romagna’s most treasured traditions: traditional balsamic vinegar.

Il Borgo del Balsamico is not simply somewhere to sleep. It is the home of a working acetaia, where balsamic is aged slowly in wooden barrels tucked beneath the roof, following a process measured not in months, but in years and generations.

The estate itself feels wonderfully removed from the idea of a conventional hotel. Historic buildings sit among gardens, courtyards and mature trees, while rooms are filled with antiques, rich colours and pieces collected over time. Breakfast is served around the family table, and guests can discover the ageing rooms and learn how the family’s balsamic is made.

It is this connection between place, family and food that makes Il Borgo del Balsamico so special. You are not simply tasting one of Emilia’s great culinary traditions. You are staying inside the world that has kept it alive.

A beautiful reminder that sometimes the most authentic way to understand a place is through the traditions passed from one generation to the next.

Il Borgo Del Balsamico

16/09/2026

📍 Glen Affric Estate, Scottish Highlands, Scotland

Set within 10,000 private acres of the Scottish Highlands, Glen Affric Estate is a 19th-century retreat surrounded by mountains, lochs and ancient Caledonian forest. The entire estate is available exclusively to just one group at a time.

At its heart is a grand Victorian lodge, where traditional Highland character meets the intimacy of a private home. Days here unfold entirely at your own pace, from trout fishing and Highland pony rides to canoeing, mountain biking, clay shooting and long walks through some of Scotland’s most dramatic wilderness.

The estate even has its own private beach, while the Rock Spa brings a sauna, hot tub, treatment room and glass-fronted gym overlooking the loch and surrounding forest.

Food is rooted firmly in the Highlands, with menus built around produce sourced from local farms and small family businesses, from Scottish cheeses and venison to seafood from the North Atlantic, accompanied by wines from the lodge’s own cellars.

But perhaps Glen Affric’s greatest luxury is its privacy: 10,000 acres of Highland wilderness, reserved entirely for you.

A rare chance to have a corner of the Scottish Highlands all to yourself.

Photo credits: The Glen Affric Estate

14/09/2026

📍 Gravetye Manor, West Sussex, England

Built in 1598 by Richard Infield for his bride, Gravetye Manor has spent more than four centuries hidden among the wooded Sussex countryside. But it was its most famous owner, pioneering gardener William Robinson, who shaped the place we know today.

Robinson made Gravetye his home in 1884 and used its grounds to put his revolutionary ideas about naturalistic gardening into practice, rejecting rigid Victorian planting in favour of wildflowers, informal borders and plants allowed to grow as they might in nature. His philosophy would go on to influence generations of English gardeners.

Today, the manor sits within more than 1,000 acres, with Robinson’s gardens still at the heart of the experience: a magnificent walled kitchen garden, orchards, meadows and seemingly untamed drifts of flowers that change with the seasons.

Inside, centuries-old stone fireplaces, wood panelling and mullioned windows preserve the feeling of an English country house, while much of what arrives on the table begins life just beyond the windows.

A rare chance to stay inside a living piece of English garden history.

Photo credits: Gravetye Manor

09/09/2026

📍 PUQIO, Colca Valley, Peru

Hidden in the remote Colca Valley, near the Andean village of Yanque, PUQIO takes inspiration from the canvas camps of early explorers. Its tented rooms and pirca stone shelters sit quietly within a landscape of sweeping valleys, volcanoes and one of the world’s deepest canyons.

But the real story lies beyond the camp. Days are spent discovering pre-Inca fortresses, walking alongside the Colca River, bathing in thermal waters, meeting Andean textile weavers or travelling through tiny villages where centuries-old traditions remain part of everyday life.

Everything is deliberately slow and grounded in place, from picnics high in the Andes to evenings back at camp, surrounded by little more than mountains and silence.

Not simply somewhere to see the Andes, but somewhere to experience life at their pace.

Photo credits: PUQIO

08/09/2026

📍 Il Salviatino, Florence, Italy

More than five centuries of Florentine history, hidden in the hills above the city.

Il Salviatino began life as a simple 14th-century farmhouse before the powerful Bardi family transformed it into a Renaissance residence in the 1400s. A century later, it passed to Alamanno Salviati, who adorned the villa with frescoes and furnishings and gave it the name it still carries today.

But perhaps its most fascinating chapter came in the early 20th century, when poet, journalist and art critic Ugo Ojetti made Il Salviatino his home.

Under Ojetti, the villa became one of Florence’s great cultural salons, welcoming artists and intellectuals including Salvador Dalí and Gabriele D’Annunzio. He also restored its Italian gardens, helping return the estate to its Renaissance spirit.

Its story continued in an unexpected direction when the villa became the Florentine home of Stanford University in the decades after the war. Today, following an extensive restoration, its frescoed ceilings, original artworks, stone loggias and Italian gardens remain, now overlooking Florence as a 39-room hotel.

Not simply a hotel overlooking Florence, but a house that has been part of its cultural story for centuries.

Photo credits: il Salviatino Firenze

06/09/2026

📍 Torre di Civita, Ravello, Italy

A thousand years of history, hidden high above the Amalfi Coast.

Perched above Ravello with views stretching across the Gulf of Salerno, Torre di Civita has stood here for around a thousand years.

Then, in 1952, an American countess fell in love with the estate, making it her home and, over the decades that followed, one of the coast’s most sought-after private addresses.

Today, that sense of privacy remains at its heart. Rather than a conventional hotel, the entire estate is given over to just one household at a time, surrounded by terraces, olive groves and lemon trees, with the bustle of the Amalfi Coast unfolding far below.

The house has long been a place for gathering. The Countess filled it with parties, celebrations and guests, and that spirit continues today, cared for by a resident team who have looked after the estate for years.

A rare chance to have a piece of Ravello’s history entirely to yourself.

Photo credits: Torre di Civita

04/09/2026

📍 Sibbjäns, Gotland, Sweden

On the southern tip of Gotland, Sibbjäns is rooted in the landscape around it. Rather than creating a conventional hotel, the idea is to bring guests closer to the rhythms of island life: the land, the seasons, the food and the traditions that have shaped this part of Sweden.

The old farm buildings have been carefully brought back to life, balancing their original character with a distinctly Nordic simplicity. Days unfold slowly between the surrounding countryside and Baltic coast, while much of the experience centres around food and ingredients grown, raised or sourced close to home.

It’s a contemporary take on the traditional farmstay, but one where the history and landscape haven’t been polished away in the process.

A beautiful way to experience rural Gotland, from the inside.

Photo credits: Sibbjäns

02/09/2026

📍 Les Oliviers du Taulisson, Provence, France

A tiny Provençal B&B created for those who want to slow down and disappear into the French countryside…

Hidden at the foot of Mont Ventoux, Les Oliviers du Taulisson is an intimate three-room B&B surrounded by its own olive grove. An old maison d’architecte has been lovingly restored with a philosophy that celebrates rustic simplicity, traditional Provençal architecture and, in the owners’ words, the “beauty of imperfection.”

Life here happens largely outside. Breakfast beneath cascading wisteria, find a quiet corner among the olive trees, swim in the blue mosaic pool or simply sit on your private terrace overlooking the hillsides of Mont Ventoux.

There’s an honesty bar for afternoon drinks and endless countryside to explore, but the real pleasure is having very little reason to leave.

A beautiful reminder that luxury can sometimes be as simple as time, silence and a sense of place.

Photo credits: Les Oliviers du Taulisson

01/09/2026

📍 Teffont House, Wiltshire, England

Dating back to 1623, Teffont House sits at the heart of Teffont Evias, one of Wiltshire’s prettiest villages, surrounded by the rolling landscapes of Cranborne Chase.

Formerly known as Howard’s House, it has welcomed artists, actors and aristocrats over the centuries. In the 1920s, it became home to artist and passionate gardener Henry Howard, who helped shape the beautiful gardens that still surround the house today.

That creative spirit lives on. Seventeen restored bedrooms are spread across the historic house, grounds and neighbouring cottage, while garden summer houses are stocked with watercolours, pencils and paper for guests to paint, sketch or journal.

Days follow an appealingly old-fashioned rhythm: walks through the Nadder Valley, croquet in the walled garden, seasonal West Country cooking and evenings beneath the stars of Cranborne Chase’s Dark Sky Reserve.

More than 400 years on, Teffont remains a place to retreat, create and slow down.

Photo credits: Teffont House

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