Writers and creationists such as the Giacometti brothers, Thomas Mann and Friedrich Nietzsche have long regarded St. Moritz as their resting place. What no one mentions, however, is that designing a home here can be extremely difficult. French interior design firm Christian Liaigre created a modern mountain villa here, using materials that pay homage to the surrounding landscape.

Christian Liaigre designed Greek Athens House for a longtime client, and he wanted to create a winter ski home for the family. When they first started, the interior design was very '70s.

In the living room, the design team took a more bespoke approach, creating custom furniture for the space. This was partly to create new pieces that would capture the spirit of the surrounding mountains and, on a more practical level, because the owners were already very familiar with Liaigre's furniture collection for a large house in Munich.

Logically, the house is located on a very narrow road at the top of a hill with a good view, but it can be risky for moving custom furniture. It is far from the center of St. Moritz, where there is no village and only a beautiful view of the lake through the woods. It was these views that inspired the materials and finishes of the house.

As this is a family home, there is a separate "dormitory" area for children and a wing with its own bathroom. The bathroom, like the rest of the home, has walls and floors made of gray travertine, a material with small holes in it. Christian Liaigre didn't fill this in as it usually does, but made it look more natural.

The idea is to create a space that combines complex elements with raw, realistic, rough materials. All in all, this is a less traditional cabin with more avant-garde design.