The brief suggested the L-shaped general plan and the use of an indigenous stone for retaining walls. But it did not suggest half burying a series of interconnecting cave-like rooms, nor the five three-storey board-marked concrete towers that poke out of the rockery roof. This is where the genius of the architect comes in.

This is masterful house-making by an ingenious architect who has brought a little bit of San Gimignano to this corner of the Ile de France.