Continuation Studio’s renovation of the Yule Mountain hotel in Zhejiang’s scenic Taihuyuan qualifies as an extreme makeover. So thorough has been the intervention that it’s almost impossible to recognise the footprint of the original farmhouse.
Framed by the tree-cloaked Tianmu mountains, willowy bamboo forests and a bijou creek, the 15-room property fairly luxuriates in its sprawling sequence of stone-lined internal courtyards bordered with slatted screens, corkscrew stairwells, and a vast central reflecting pool whose mirror-flat surface amplifies the sensation of unending space.
A long perforated timber porch along the hotel’s outer edge not only deflects traffic noise, formerly a bane of guests, it also turns the perspective inwards and skywards. From every vantage point, the panorama seduces, with room 204 boasting the best views in the house. In the kitchen, meanwhile, head chef Jiang Yongshui cleaves close to the Zhejiang playbook with green tea dumplings, and garoupers steamed with bamboo shoots.§
