A rather substantial dwelling even back in the day, the rectangular house with stone-flagged floors was divided into two sections connected via a cross passage. One end housed the workshop of William’s father, John Shakespeare, a glove maker and wool dealer, while the other served as living quarters, comprising a parlour with a fireplace and an adjoining hall with a large, open hearth on the ground level, and three chambers on the first floor.

Over time, the structure saw expansions, including a rear kitchen with an upper chamber and a separate single-bay house known as Joan Hart’s Cottage, where Shakespeare’s younger sister once lived.

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Basking in the success of his literary masterpieces like The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte-Cristo, which first captivated audiences as serialised novels in the newspapers, the illustrious French author decided to crown his achievements with a residency at Le Port-Marly in northern France.

Dumas enlisted the expertise of architect Hippolyte Durand, renowned for his mastery of mediaeval-style church architecture, notably showcased in The Basilica of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Lourdes, France. Built between 1844 and 1847 at the cost of 500,000 francs, the château was a three-storey Neo-Renaissance style residence that Dumas claimed to be his personal “paradise on earth.”

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The lavish façade of Château de Monte-Cristo boasted intricate sculptures featuring floral motifs, cherubic figures and musical instruments, while above each ground-level window sat mascarons paying homage to French historical writers like François-René de Chateaubriand and Alphonse de Lamartine.

Emblazoned upon the pediment above the grand entrance was the Coat of Arms of Davy de la Pailleterie, Dumas’ true family name, accompanied by his motto: “J’aime qui m’aime” (“I love who loves me”).

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Inside, on the first level, was the opulent Moors Salon, adorned with exquisite stucco sculptures and arabesques meticulously crafted by Tunisian artisans in the service of the Bey of Tunis, which Dumas brought all the way back to France himself. 

Elaborate as the Château de Monte-Cristo was, Dumas spent most of his time instead in the Neo-Gothic pavilion nestled within the “à l’anglaise” garden grounds. Surrounded by a moat, Château d’If served as the celebrated author’s private writing haven. The 88 titles of Dumas’ works were carved onto the castle façade, accompanied by sculpted tributes to his beloved fictional heroes.

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Nestled within the prestigious enclave of “Nook Farm” in Hartford, Connecticut, Samuel Langhorne Clemens–famously known as Mark Twain–and his family found refuge in this Gothic Revival masterpiece crafted by NYC-based architect Edward Tuckerman Potter.

The 11,000 sq ft site with 25 bedrooms, while featuring a steeply-pitched roof and asymmetrical bay windows typical of the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, also echoed those of the “Mississippi Steamboat” or Carpenter Gothic style from the American late-19th century, as well as the European-inspired Continental Picturesque style favoured by the well-to-do during the same era.

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The eclectic façade was made of delicate woodwork, slate-shingled gable roofs, and covered porches embellished with intricate fretwork skirting. This complemented the use of Windsor brick and Connecticut River Valley brownstone, some arranged in design formations reminiscent of the Native American weavework.

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Clemens, famed for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, also commissioned renowned designer Louis Comfort Tiffany to decorate the space with geometric stencilling on walls and doors, speciality wallpapers, alongside exquisite pierced brass work and carved teak woodwork.

An early adopter of modern technologies, the Missouri-born author outfitted the home with cutting-edge amenities, including an early telephone installation with speaking tubes and bells, a burglar alarm, gas lighting, central heating and extensive plumbing.

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While best known for his novella, The Old Man and the Sea, it was within this Key West abode that the American author penned his earlier works, such as Green Hills of Africa, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, and To Have and Have Not.

Built between 1848 and 1851 by Asa Tift, a notable marine architect and salvage wrecker, the French Colonial-style residence sits 16 feet above sea level, making it the second-highest site on the Floridian island. Whereas its 18-inch thick limestone walls made the home resistant to tropical storms and hurricanes.

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The house showcased distinctive design elements: cast iron pillars, verandas and balusters–all of which Tift brought back from New Orleans. Additionally, lime-coloured shutter doors complemented the Italianate arched windows.

In the 1930s, Hemingway acquired the home as a wedding gift from his wife, Pauline’s affluent uncle, who purchased it for US$8,000.

Hemingway decorated the walls with his hunting trophies, while his wife replaced the ceiling fans with chandeliers, prioritising aesthetics over air circulation. The second-storey carriage house was converted into Hemingway’s writing studio, while the basement became a wine cellar.

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Unbeknownst to Hemingway during his time in Spain, Pauline had a 24- by 60-foot swimming pool installed in the backyard, the first of its kind in the Florida Keys, which cost US$20,000—significantly more than the entire property.

While Hemingway once kept peacocks on the grounds, “Hemingway cats” now flock to the present-day private museum, many of which are polydactyl with six toes on each paw. These felines even have their own cemetery within the house garden.

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When it came time to design her “first real home,” the American author looked to her debut book, The Decoration of Houses, for design principles of good architectural expressions–order, scale, and harmony–to infuse into her country house in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Together with co-author Ogden Codman, Jr, they designed the property nicknamed “The Mount,” drawing inspiration from the 17th-century Gilded-Age Belton House in England, along with classical Italian and French architectural influences.

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Perched on higher grounds of the original 113-acre site (now nearly 50 acres), the main house stands out with its white stucco exterior and juxtaposing dark green shutters, while white chimneys and a cupola graced its gable roofs.

The west-facing front entry of the 16,850 sq ft Georgian Revival-style residence has 42 rooms that span three stories, which the Whartons resided in from 1902 to 1911.

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While the more secluded entrance on the opposite side offers two stories, featuring a raised stone terrace overlooking the extensive verdant backyard: an Italian walled garden, a formal flower garden, an alpine rock garden and extensive grass terraces interconnected by lime walkways.

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After his tenure as a news journalist on Fleet Street and serving in Her Majesty’s service during the Second World War, the British author returned to Oracabessa Bay on the northern Jamaican coastline, where he first visited in the 1940s.

Adjacent to his grand neoclassical estate, Golden Clouds, he purchased 15 acres of cliffside land and constructed the more modest Goldeneye. The understated retreat with just three bedrooms and two guest cottages, a private swimming pool and a secluded beach stands in contrast to the opulent 12-bedroom oceanfront property.

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Despite its unassuming appearance, Goldeneye, designed in the classic Jamaican style with wooden jalousie windows, was where Fleming breathed life into the titular spy character James Bond, a larger-than-life version of himself. 

After completing his debut novel, Casino Royale, in 1952, he went on to pen the subsequent 13 novels in the Bond series at the plain wooden corner desk in Goldeneye.

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12 years after Fleming’s passing, the tranquil residence, now affectionately known as The Fleming Villa, changed hands. It was purchased by the legendary reggae musician Bob Marley, who later sold the property to Island Records founder Chris Blackwell.

Under Blackwell’s ownership, the estate was expanded to its current 52-acre footprint, forming the foundation of the present-day Goldeneye Hotel and Resort consisting of a sprawling complex of villas, cottages, and gardens nestled along private beaches.

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