Villa Cinarca

Villa Cinarca sits on a green hillside above a turquoise bay, where yachts drop anchor in the clear water. The house is built of stone and cedar, with a stepping-stone path through hydrangeas and a broad pool laid out in front of a covered veranda.

The main living room has white-painted rafters and walls of glass that look over the terrace to the sea. Grey sofas with red cushions, bright modern art and a kitchen with red pendant lights give it an easy, family feel. Meals move outside to a long table under the pergola. For a sociable luxury villa rental in Corsica, it gets the balance of indoor and outdoor space just right.

Villa Cinarca sleeps ten guests in six bedrooms, each with a king bed, and has five bathrooms. Some bedrooms open straight onto the garden, and one sits under cedar panelling in the roof. Children have a long room with built-in beds and bunks, which tends to become the most popular room in the house.

The veranda runs the length of the stone wing, and beside the pool there's a pergola lounge with navy sofas. A gravel pétanque court sits in the shade of the trees. Below lie the clear water of the Corsican coast, among the loveliest stretches of shoreline in France. It suits families with children and groups of friends.