Casa Alta Rocca

Casa Alta Rocca is built around one long line of blue. Its lap pool stretches the length of the timber deck, pointing straight at a ridge of Corsican mountains, with nothing but green maquis in between.

The house is low and modern, shaded by timber louvres that throw stripes of light across the deck. Inside, the mood is spare and calm: white built-in banquettes heaped with cushions, a rough granite wall, a teak dining table beside wide glass doors and a steel kitchen that's made for real cooking. One sitting area opens to a terrace walled with great granite boulders, which feels like the island coming inside. It's a luxury villa rental in Corsica for people who love clean lines and big views.

Casa Alta Rocca sleeps eight guests and has four bathrooms. Bedrooms are simple and white, with glass doors to the deck, and the bathrooms are lined in pale mosaic, one with a tub beneath the window.

Outside there are rattan pod chairs, low loungers under umbrellas and a small glass pavilion at the far end of the pool. The Alta Rocca is the mountainous south of the island, a part of France known for granite villages, forests and quiet roads down to the coast. This house suits two couples, a family or friends who want peace above all.