Villa Cavrois

Villa Cavrois is a modernist mansion tucked away along a quiet residential street in Croix. It was originally built in 1932 for an eccentric textile industrialist and looks nothing like the houses around it: long, low and flat-roofed, all built with a pale yellow brick. Out in the garden there's a long reflecting pool that stretches out all the way across the grounds. Uniquely it lines it up perfectly with the middle of the house, creating an incredible leading line and the perfect spot to play with reflections. The whole place was designed around clean horizontal lines, with one tower rising from the middle. You can experiment with using the long low walls to contrast with the single vertical tower. The pale brick pairs beautifully with a clear blue sky so aim to come on a crisp sunny day. The interior of the house is open to explore and make sure to head up onto the rooftop terraces for higher angles. The home is has been restored to its former glory and is now maintained by the national monuments service, so there is a fee to access both the grounds and the interior. The hours and open days to change throughout the year so it is worth checking their calendar before you make the drive out. (Croix, Hauts-de-France, France)