Owning a house by the sea is a dream shared by many the world over. This book presents some of the most captivating dreams that have come true, ranging from an experimental log cabin with no electricity beside a Norwegian fiord and Pierre Cardin's futuristic capsule floating off the Cote d'Azur, inspired by a James Bond film,to an architect's small but sophisticated Long Island house and a Dutchman's Robinson Crusoe idyll in Costa Rica. Just as no two people are alike, so their dreams of a life by the sea are infinitely various.

The magic of the sea

La magie de la mer

Die Magie des Meeres

Todd Saunders & Tommie Wilhelmsen, Hardanger, Norway

Hanne Kjmrholm, Rungsted Kyst, Denmark

Black Rubber Beach House, Dungeness Beach, England

Seaside Simplicity, Knokke-Zoute, Belgium

Pierre Cardin, Saint-Tropez, France

Marcella & G ianpietro Vigorelli, Levanto, Italy

Kris Ruhs, Portofino, Italy

Domenico Dolce & Stefano Gabbana, Portofino, Italy

Fiona Swarovski, Capri, Italy

Tiled Treasure, Positano, Italy

Domenico Dolce & Stefano Gabbana, Stromboli, Italy

Belquis Zahir, Filicudi, Italy

Paul Barthelemy, Alicudi, Italy

Jose Gandia-Blasco, Ibiza, Spain

Jacques Grange, Carvalhal, Portugal

Christina von Rosen, Algarve, Portugal

Gianna & Theodore Angelopoulos, Mykonos, Greece

Yorgos Zaphiriou, Serif'os, Greece

Alan Wanzenberg, Fire Island, New York Photos:PieterEstersohn

Annabelle Selldorf, Long Island, New York

Lisa Perry, Sag Harbor, New York

Danielle & David Ganek, Southampton, New York

Shore Chic, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

Barbara Becker, Miami, Florida

Marbrisa, Acapulco, Mexico

Mima & Cesar Reyes, Naguabo, Puerto Rico

Rudolf Nureyev, Saint Barths, French West Indies

Daan Nelemans, Manzanillo, Costa Rica

White Wonder, Iporanga, Brazil

Azul Garcia Uriburu, Faro Jose Ignacio, Uruguay

Michel Grether, Punta del Este, Uruguay

Cool Classicism, Manantiales, Uruguay

The Customs House, La Barra, Uruguay

Hugo Ramasco, La Pedrera, Uruguay

Edward Rojas, Chiloe Island, Chile

Jenny Bannister & Mongoose Belin, Lome, Australia

St Andrews Residence, Mornington Peninsula, Australia

Ket Crosson, Coromandel eninsula, New Zealand

Addresses/Addresses/Addressen