The World's Most Amazing Vacation Rentals (2021) s02e01 Episode Script

1
I'm so excited for this trip,
because we're gonna stay
in some modern design masterpieces.
I love it!
- Here we go, road trip!
- Road trip!
You may not be able to own a home
designed by a famous architect,
but you can certainly rent one.
With several rental platforms
specializing in all types
of architectural gems,
we're choosing to focus
on the modernist movement.
From this super-futuristic Invisible House
here in the middle of the desert
To this Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece
here in Wisconsin
To this modern, mid-century masterpiece
here in New England.
Welcome to Palm Springs!
- The house I'm taking you to is so sexy.
- Yeah?
- Get your eyeballs ready.
- Okay.
You might not even see it.
That's what I'm saying.
Okay!
For my unique modern home,
I've brought us outside of Palm Springs
to Joshua Tree, California,
where the house that we'll be going to
is hidden in the desert.
Literally.
In the '50s,
Hollywood and just artsy people
would come out to Palm Springs
and made it
their mid-century modern play land.
But now, today, new creatives
and young architects
are coming out to Joshua Tree
and doing the same thing,
but it's just in a modern way.
It's our modern.
We're almost there.
- What? Whoa!
- Whoa!
You can barely see it!
- Wow, this is cool!
- This is incredible.
This is so bizarre.
Have you seen anything like this
in your life?
And you're about to just this is like
The Invisible House
is a truly unique take on modern design.
Outside, its reflective exterior
blends with the desert landscape.
Inside, this 5,500-square-foot rental
features a 100-foot-long pool
and panoramic views.
It has four bedrooms
five bathrooms.
It can sleep eight guests,
and it starts at $3,500 per night.
I just have never seen
anything like this before.
This looks like a skyscraper
that could be in Manhattan.
It's just in the middle of the desert
laying on its side.
- Look at the corners. It's floating.
- Mm-hm.
And you see, like, you know,
the rocks are so, um, edgy.
It almost feels
like it could break the house.
'Cause the house looks very delicate,
like a sculpture.
You gotta see the inside too.
It's pretty spectacular.
Come on, Luis, there's more to see!
Come on in.
- Ta-da!
- Whoa!
This is massive.
This is amazing.
There's a pool
in the middle of the house.
So this is a 100-foot pool.
We've never seen something
like this in a house before.
We've never seen something this anywhere.
This pool is heated
with solar panels.
- It's heated?
- And it keeps the house heated too.
- Like the humidity of the water.
- Yes, you're in the desert.
It's dry. Having a pool in the center
is actually, like, a sustainability twist.
Every part of this house,
from the tinted glass,
to the positioning, to the fact that
there's a curtain of rocks on the right,
that's protecting us from harsh conditions
like the extreme sun that comes in.
They thought this through.
So it doesn't
look like a traditional house,
but it does has everything
you have in a house.
- Okay.
- This is the living space.
It's just wild that the pool is spanning,
what, four or five different spaces.
You have a seating area.
You have a dining room,
and then you land
on a traditional living room.
There's the kitchen there.
Interesting! This is so smart
that they have all the storage
here on the island and the cooktop,
because where else would you put them?
If you had any upper cabinets,
you would destroy the view.
It's actually really impressive.
There's nothing hanging up on the walls.
The property doesn't have artwork,
because the windows are the artwork.
- What is this? The fridge?
- Huge.
Huge. Sub-Zeroes.
This is definitely an event space.
It's rare to have properties
that you can book as an event space.
- Out here?
- You can have an event here.
But this is one of those events
people won't ever stop talking about.
Never!
- So you wanna see the bedrooms?
- Yes!
Okay, good, let's go.
There are three suites.
This is the primary suite.
- Whoa!
- Ta-da!
Wow.
This has to be one of the sexiest bedrooms
I have ever seen.
- Look at this bed frame!
- Wow!
This is
a one-of-a-kind designer bed.
This bed is $55,000,
and they had to build it custom
for this room.
It's one of those beds
you only see in magazines.
And this is the bathroom.
Megan, look at that shower.
- Where's the door?
- Where's the curtain?
You don't need a door.
There's no need for a curtain either.
Look, even the tub in here, you don't need
curtains around. It's your own space.
Yeah, you get the sense of freedom,
and you still get privacy.
Perfect.
Okay, guys, let's check out
the view. This is where the money is.
Wow.
I love the nature in this house.
This is a landscape.
You have a landscape for a view.
That's so rare.
The other bedrooms
are a bit more private,
but have the same spectacular views.
It's all unique.
It's an entire platform of marble.
And then you have this beautiful view.
Look at this.
You see,
this is what makes this room very special.
You feel this peace, as if almost
like it's only you and the desert.
Very nice.
I needed to know more
about this modern home in the desert,
so I've asked owners
Hollywood film producer Chris Hanley
and his wife Roberta to meet with us.
It was supposed to be sort of like
a reflection of the land as it were,
but I mean, we were in New York,
and the skyscrapers
are these monolithic things.
Of course, I always liked
2001: A Space Odyssey.
- The monolith.
- Oh! Outstanding.
That's my real inspiration.
Chris definitely wanted
to respect the land.
You're in the middle of nature, and you
don't want it to have any footprint.
And so that's where the invisible quality
came in.
So according to the homeowners,
this sleek,
modern home is also quite sustainable.
It's LEED certified,
running off solar thermal panels
for the hot water and electric.
The Solarcool glass exteriors
filter and refract the sunlight
to keep the interior cool.
The owners were careful
to minimize the impact on the landscape
to ensure desert wildlife is undisturbed
in its natural habitat.
This house has a high-end fire pit
that doubles as a grill,
so you can enjoy
the breathtaking night sky while you cook.
Mmm!
This is my kind of modern.
- Like, you still have the grit outside.
- Mm-hmm.
This is the kind of view
that's gonna convert me
into a morning person.
One of the benefits of having
such a large place with concrete floors
is you can transport yourself with this
for as long as you want.
This is literally my 32nd lap. Ha-ha-ha!
Frank Lloyd Wright
is the father of organic architecture,
which means the structure blends in
seamlessly to the nature around it.
This house takes that concept
and puts a major spin on it,
because it's all reflective glass.
So, at the right angle,
it becomes invisible.
It creates the illusion that oh, wait.
Okay, I actually don't know where it is.
I think it's there.
I'm imagining it's there.
It's very hard to see right now,
but that's the point.
It's a magic trick.
Since this property sits on 90 acres,
you can have some amazing experiences
right outside your backyard.
And what I just experienced
was a life moment
with a morning hike
that I'll never forget.
And this is why you come here. For this.
Of course, you know we had to experience
the best amenity on the property.
Wow.
- Come on in!
- You are really tucked in bed.
It's only 6 p.m.
- Wow, what a life.
- It's not a bad view.
- Wow, this is incredible.
- What a life!
This is the first time in my life
that I've looked for a vacation rental
specifically for the architecture,
because we're on this journey.
It showed me anything is possible.
Anything at all.
You can build a skyscraper on its side
and put it in the middle of the desert.
You can make it happen.
- Tell 'em where we're going.
- Going to Wisconsin!
The Midwest.
The Midwest. I'm so excited.
This is gonna be my favorite one.
We're going into the house
of Frank Lloyd Wright!
Frank Lloyd Wright.
Frank Lloyd Wright
would be very proud of us
for showing up to his house in this car.
For my budget property,
I'm taking us to Two Rivers, Wisconsin,
an all-American city,
where you can rent a home
by one of the most influential architects
in history.
I am a little nervous to go to this place.
Why?
Frank Lloyd Wright
is the father of modern architecture.
He designed over 1,000 structures
over his 70-year career.
This is a house that he created
to be a dream home
for a middle-class American family.
Now it's a vacation rental,
and we're staying in it.
- Oh, wow.
- What?
- I need a minute to take it all in.
- I love it!
We're staying in a masterpiece.
In 1938, Life magazine.
had the eight best architects in the world
each design a dream home
for a middle-class American family.
American master Frank Lloyd Wright
designed this house,
and Bernard Schwartz and his wife Fern
actually built it here in 1940.
It's 3,000 square feet,
has four bedrooms
four bathrooms,
sleeps eight guests
and goes for about $600 a night.
You can see so many elements
of a Frank Lloyd Wright house
just by the outside.
Like the flat roof, the horizontal lines,
Cherokee red bricks, the windows,
the carport.
Frank Lloyd Wright
actually coined the term "carport."
- Also, I like this little loop-de-loop.
- Yeah, the drive-up.
This semi-circle drive-up.
This is grand.
This is like, "I'm showing up to my house
in style." It looks very private.
It does.
You can't even see the front door.
Where is the front door?
Exactly. That's part of it.
The whole thing is theatrical.
Hmm. Wow. Look at the ceilings!
- Whoa!
- What? This is beautiful!
This is so cool!
- Whoa! Look at that view!
- The masterpiece.
Look at the fireplace!
Gorgeous. This is a 360 piece of art.
Okay, look at this.
This is a great example
of what Frank Lloyd Wright
called compression and expansion.
Walking into the foyer
and having the roof kind of low to us
pushes us out into this expansive space.
This is gorgeous.
You know what?
This is not your standard floor plan.
Instead of using walls,
he's using ceiling heights
to determine the living areas.
Yeah, but my favorite thing
is his fascination with light.
He's kind of a painter in the way
that he's displaying the light everywhere.
You see the windows up here,
those are clerestory windows
and having them line up all the way
against the roof lets in ambient light.
It is beautiful.
Even with the color of the floor.
- Yeah!
- It feels like I'm on the earth.
This is so cool. It's like art.
It is art. It's interesting, because
he was so into doing stained glass.
That was like his signature thing.
Since the typical American family
couldn't afford stained glass,
he started creating these little details
to give it character
without it getting too expensive.
- Wow!
- Oh!
And this is the light!
Wow! I love this.
Talk about high ceilings.
Wow, this is great.
- This is like two stories.
- I've never seen a kitchen like this.
Me neither.
He's doing a special entrance
to every room.
Yeah!
You know, it's like every room
deserves its own, like
Ta-da!
Yeah, it's dynamic.
Okay, if you don't know anything
about Frank Lloyd Wright,
I'm gonna give you a quick crash course
on a couple of his signatures,
starting with this wood.
He loved this wood.
This is called red tidewater cypress.
He continues with it
all throughout the house.
But my favorite of his signatures,
obviously, is the light.
Oh, my goodness, are we in heaven?
Frank Lloyd Wright
introduced organic architecture,
which influenced the modernist movement
to this day,
like we saw at the Invisible House.
- It's calm!
- Yes, yes, yes!
- This is beautiful.
- Gorgeous.
It's so cool.
- I'm going to the hammock!
- I'm going right here.
Look how beautiful!
It feels like
he's framing nature in a way.
Like, I lay down, and I look
I feel like I'm looking at a piece of art,
and the art is the sky.
Let's see the bedrooms!
This is the primary bedroom.
Think about what you just saw
and how grand everything is.
I would think that he would do the bedroom
much more dramatic.
I think that it's to push everyone
into the communal spaces.
- Right.
- Family home. Family is the priority.
I think that he's decorating these
in a more minimalistic way
to encourage family bonding.
- Look how beautiful it looks.
- Gorgeous.
Everywhere you go, there's something new
to look at, like, a new perspective.
Yeah, a new feeling.
Because Frank Lloyd Wright
was on a budget,
he chose to dedicate the most space
and money to the common spaces,
while keeping the bedrooms and bathrooms
small but functional.
Well, mostly functional.
A bathr oh!
- No! That's as far as the door goes?
- I read about this.
- How did he mess this up?
- It was intentional.
What do you mean?
So the story goes that this linen closet
wasn't supposed to be here.
He wanted the linen closet to be outside.
But the lady wanted it so bad
in the bathroom
As in the woman who's paying
for him to build her house?
Right, this is his compromise
of being like,
"You don't tell me how to make a house."
That's crazy.
I'm in the bathroom. I'm using it!
We settle into the life
that Wright might have envisioned
for a typical Wisconsin family,
cooking up some local cheese curds
and relaxing.
Look at this!
It is like the epitome of how comfort
and style can meld together.
That's the feeling of the entire house.
It's user-friendly, which is not
what I would expect for a designer home.
- Correct.
- Right.
The guy was ahead of his time.
The Frank Lloyd Wright House was
the first home built in this neighborhood.
So I took a look around to see
if his vision caught on here in Wisconsin.
- On a skateboard?
- Skateboarding through the neighborhood.
In 1940, this was built. There was
nothing around. This one was built first.
This was his take on what the average
American family should be living in,
and it backfired,
'cause it's still the only house
on the block that looks like this.
I wouldn't say it's a complete failure.
Because even though it didn't catch on
in this neighborhood,
it rocked the entire world.
Yeah, and even thinking
about the elements in the house
that are common now
in the fanciest houses,
like the open layout,
the heated floors, the outdoor space.
- Yeah.
- Like, it all kind of started here.
The houses we live in today
were influenced by this man.
And by this house.
After an amazing night's sleep,
it's time to spend a day in the life that
Wright imagined for the American family.
And what could be more all-American
than a boat ride
into the quaint town of Two Rivers?
All right, ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to the East Twin River.
This is one of the two rivers out of,
you know, you've heard, Two Rivers.
We had a delightful afternoon
visiting this small American town
and having ice cream at the shop
where it's claimed
that the ice cream sundae was invented.
- This is amazing!
- This is very good.
- This is like a fancy TV dinner!
- It is!
Okay, Luis, where are we going next?
I'm gonna take you guys
to New Canaan, Connecticut,
where we're going to see a house that is
a masterpiece in the architectural world.
- In fact, probably the most famous.
- What?
- Here's to architecture.
- Here's to architecture not being boring.
- Cheers! That's something to toast to.
- Architecture!
Oh, my God!
This is an Aston Martin.
So I picked this car because this car
did to the automobile industry
what the owner of the house
we're going to be staying
did to the architectural industry.
He revolutionized it.
We've traveled from Wisconsin
to New Canaan, Connecticut,
a wealthy bedroom community located
just an hour outside of New York City.
There are over 80 homes here
that are prime examples
of mid-century modern architecture,
and today, we're seeing a home
that was the very first of its kind
and that paved the way
for places like the Invisible House.
Welcome home, Jo.
It feels good to be back.
I did grow up in the same county as this.
This is like the Beverly Hills
of Connecticut.
Believe it or not,
Connecticut is one of the hubs of, uh,
modern, mid-century homes in the country.
- Here we are!
- Whoa.
Luis, really?
Wow, what a beautiful house.
This is not a house.
Like, how is this a house?
This was a revolution.
It broke all the rules.
When this was built in 1949,
houses were wooden or brick boxes.
Nowadays, you see this kind
of modern design pretty much everywhere.
- This is an epic find.
- I mean, it's a piece of art.
Tucked away in the woods, the Glass House
is a national historic landmark
located on 49 acres
in New Canaan, Connecticut,
and was built by architect Philip Johnson
as his own residence.
The New York Times
called the house "historic
and perhaps the best known example
of domestic modernism."
By the way,
you can only rent it a few nights a year,
making this one of the most exclusive
mid-century properties to rent
in the world.
Included in the rental is a private
behind-the-scenes tour
of the Glass House site
and permission to roam
the entire 49-acre grounds.
It has one bedroom
one bathroom
sleeps two guests and goes for
an incredible price of $30,000 per night.
Am I the only one
that feels nervous?
I've only seen this in history books.
I've only seen photos.
You get to live inside
an architect's work for himself.
- Yeah, but for what cost?
- $30,000 a night.
But that money goes into
the historic preservation of the site.
And you know, I think it's amazing,
because you get to live
in a piece of architectural history.
Wow.
- Just take a good, deep breath inside.
- I feel like I shouldn't touch anything.
- I just got chills. I swear.
- No, I got chills too.
But it's because I've seen
so many pictures of them living in this.
It looks like this is it,
but really, you can see exactly where
to live different parts of your life.
All the spaces are clearly delineated
by the furniture,
so we have the conversation room.
We have the kitchen.
We have the dining room,
and we have the sleeping area.
It's almost like they did
the most they could
with the smallest amount of space.
Are we allowed to,
like, walk around everywhere?
- I feel like I shouldn't be here.
- This is our house for the day.
Coming here,
we've jumped into a photograph in history.
But before
Don't sit yet. This is, like, a moment.
These are the original Barcelona chairs
made by Mies van der Rohe
for the king and queen of Spain.
I mean,
everybody has this piece in New York.
- Everyone!
- Really?
These are the originals!
This is like sitting on the Mona Lisa.
This is what $30,000 gets you.
You're actually able to sit in art,
live in it. So
Andy Warhol was actually sitting
where you are sitting.
What?
I do love how,
because the house is so minimal,
we're immediately
doing the thing you're supposed to do,
which is having a conversation here.
- Yeah.
- It's very inviting.
Look at the simplicity.
There's no clutter at all here.
Wow, guys,
look at this frame right here.
I love this,
and nothing like this home even existed
back in 1949 when this was built.
You can't forget the fact that
the furniture that we see nowadays,
this is just where it started.
- So minimal.
- Iconic.
But there's one room
that you haven't seen.
The bathroom.
Oh, this is cool.
The mirror's right in the middle.
Beautiful lighting.
So many plays on shapes,
'cause it's circular in general,
but then everything in it
The tiles on the ceiling and on the wall
are square.
- This is the kitchen.
- Wow.
It does not look like a kitchen.
Where's the stove?
It should be somewhere.
- Oh, my God, Jo. Look how smart that is!
- There you go.
And then on this
- A sink!
- Wow.
This is like a modern kitchen.
- Correct.
- This is not a family kitchen.
Which I love, because at the time,
women used to be excluded
if the kitchen was closed off.
With this kitchen being designed
to be a part of the room,
it just brought women
into the conversation,
which is so cutting edge and progressive
for that time.
By staying at the Glass House,
we're not just getting one landmark
piece of architecture to explore,
but almost a dozen
significant works of modern design.
Katherine is here
to show us the highlights
of the rest of the property.
What is around us?
You have the Sculpture Gallery
there in the distance,
built into the hill in 1970.
And tucked into the hillside,
there also is the Painting Gallery.
Directly across from us,
of course, is the Brick House.
The Brick House is opaque
to this building's transparency.
It's the opposite in every way.
In the far distance is the Kirstein Tower.
And then you have
the Pavilion in the Pond.
Its scale is tiny.
He's playing with proportion a little bit.
So when you stand down there,
it's this idea that, like,
you're a big person in a little thing,
just like when you were a little kid.
- Like Alice in Wonderland.
- I was just gonna say Alice in Wonderland!
I love it!
So up here, we have Da Monsta.
This is next level.
- There are no right angles.
- That's the thing about this place.
Like, who knows what's around the corner?
I think, tomorrow,
we should get extremely creative.
I think we should let go
of anything that's holding us back,
just to see what comes out.
So whether it's painting
or photography or just exploring
- Cheers.
- Okay.
But we need
to look up at the stars tonight.
- 'Cause this is the show.
- All right.
You already know
what I'm gonna ask, right?
I'm so surprised
you haven't asked it already.
Where's food? Where's the food?
I need to know where food is
at all time, especially at breakfast.
Get Luis. Luis
- Good morning.
- Good morning. What time is it?
- I actually don't know.
- It's breakfast time, bud.
Why is it I hear
almost everything you say?
Because there are no walls?
We decided to explore the property
and find the perfect spot
to enjoy our breakfast.
This is so cool!
- Oh, my God!
- Whoa! Nice.
- I could be here all day.
- Me too.
This is my favorite part.
Luis, you know what I love
about your properties?
They always surprise me.
But this
is a very down-to-earth experience.
Luxury, to me, is something that's rare.
Something that's unique,
that very few people have access to.
- What do you think of Connecticut so far?
- It's a very expensive state.
Yeah, which is wild,
considering when we moved from Brazil
to the States,
my mom decided on Connecticut.
- Why?
- Because we could clean those big houses.
Growing up in Connecticut,
I was the only person who looked like me
in the classroom filled with those,
you know, rich, all-American kids.
On Saturdays and on Sundays,
I'd go to clean houses with my mom,
and when I told her I was coming here,
the first thing she said was,
"Oh, I used to clean a house like that."
Like, look how far you've come.
- It's crazy.
- I mean, you've earned it.
It's crazy. It's like you come
to the States for a better life,
and now we're here,
having the best jobs in the world.
And I used to clean houses
that look like this. You know?
- Yes.
- It doesn't seem real.
Everything that you have now,
you have worked for, earned and deserve.
- And I hope you know that.
- Yeah.
- Cheers.
- Salud!
To gratefulness. Gratitude. That's great.
The grounds and all the buildings placed
throughout create such an artistic mood.
So while the girls spend their afternoon
painting outdoors,
I was inspired
to take architectural photographs.
One of my favorite hobbies.
I associate architecture
and photography very much.
It's all about composition. It's all
about framing. It's all about lines.
It's all about telling a story. It's all
about creating some sort of emotion.
Once you start to photograph,
you start to see, you know, everything.
The lines, the shadows, the lights.
You know, it just inspires me.
Yeah, wait. Let's have a toast.
Thank you, guys, for coming.
For an additional cost,
you can host a dinner party
for up to ten people at the house.
So I've invited a renowned designer
friend of mine from New York,
who actually worked at Airbnb
as the head of social innovation.
I spent years working at Airbnb,
and, you know,
the idea that we no longer have to travel
to a particular city
because that's where the hotels are
If you really want to discover
a place like this,
suddenly, you as the person get
to choose how you wanna sleep,
where you wanna sleep
and to discover a place.
You guys really have been
on a whirlwind adventure, right?
Which, ten years ago, people couldn't do.
Right now, like, you're sitting
in a place that Andy Warhol had dinner.
You can keep saying it,
and it always sounds new to me.
Everything is exactly how it was
in the 1940s.
I feel like I've transcended
into this space because nothing has moved.
I didn't think I would love this place
so much, to be honest.
- I'd like to toast for you guys.
- Aww.
- Thank you.
- An experience of a lifetime.
Truly.
It's crazy to think
that we traveled all around the country
and experienced stays in some of
the best examples of modern architecture.
I mean, it's a piece of art.
See,
every property had an interesting story,
but my favorite was the Invisible House,
because of the creativity
behind putting this kind of home
in the middle of the desert.
We're staying in a masterpiece!
It was unreal sitting in the living room
of the Glass House,
but the Invisible House was my favorite,
because the house is just so different
from any other modern-design home.
Wow, look at the ceiling!
I really liked how we were able to step
into the life Frank Lloyd Wright
envisioned for the American family,
but the Invisible House was my favorite,
because it was such a remarkable contrast
between the rugged desert
and the sleek design.
All around the world we move ♪
All around the world we move ♪
All around the world we move ♪
All around the world we move ♪
All around the world we move ♪
All around the world we go ♪