Design

Not just your own house, the Andrew Wright-designed Island House also comes with the entire island too, which is Inishturk Beg Island, Westport, Co. Mayo, just off the coast of Ireland.

Yes, you could set yourself up as a James Bond-style villain on an island with plenty of room to house some henchmen — Inishturk Beg covers 65 acres with as many as five island houses overall, a pier, a floating marina and of course, the main residence.

In terms of getting there, you’ll find the island in Clew bay, which is around 10km from the tourist towns and beauty spots of Westport and Newport and around 67km from Knock Airport. RyanAir fly there, but I suspect you’ll be going by other means if you can afford this.

You’ll need around £2,276,909 to secure it — via WowHaus

New Britain Watch Corp is a new kind of watch brand — conceived in the US and inspired by the California cool of the 1950s, they are hand-assembled completely in Switzerland. The NA521 retails for $3,200 — via HODINKEE

In the midst of a heritage conservation district in Sydney, Grove Architects create Woollahra House 11 — a open plan house that is modern yet cosy, airy but not stark — via Home Design Find

How do you turn an already good bike into an exceptional bike? This pale and interesting Triumph Thruxton custom from Kiddo Motors of Barcelona is one answer — via Bike EXIF

Designed by the architectural firm Matharoo Associates, the Curtain Door is most definitely a door like no other I’ve seen. The massive door is made of 40 sections of thick Burma teak and sits between the entrance’s concrete walls. Each section has been carved to incorporate 160 pulleys, 80 ball bearings, one wire rope, and a hidden counterweight — via Design Milk

Two months ago, CRD hit the ball out of the park with an elegant vintage BMW R75. They’ve now revisited the Teutonic theme, this time with a muscular and purposeful R 100RT.

Ruby Ring was commissioned by an Austrian fan of the Spanish custom builders. And she’s not just a pretty face: the extensive list of mods starts with the engine, which has been heavily upgraded with the help of BMW specialists MaxBOXER — via Bike EXIF

Stillness, is a five-bedroom art deco property in Bromley, Kent designed by Gilbert Booth in 1934. It is a stunning slice of period architecture and one that has been maintained well and modernised to a good standard. Yes, there’s a modern kitchen and bathroom in here, but the shell is still faithful to the original build.

On the downside, you’ll need to find a monthly rent of £3,300 — via WowHaus

A stern test for established custom builders is how they handle the budget job. Can they capture the flavor of the mega-buck builds at half the cost? The English workshop Spirit of The Seventieshas just taken this test, and passed with flying colours.

Tim Rogers and Kev Taggart call their latest machine the Ducati GT-R. But despite the name, performance modifications were not on the client’s wishlist. Our client didn’t even have a bike, which was great news. We knew exactly what to use as the donor — a Ducati GT1000 — via Bike EXIF

Set on the bewitching Greek island of Santorini is a special resort. The luxury Hotel Tholos overlooks the Mediterranean Sea. The hotel is set among typical Greek white-washed villages nestled at the tops of the steep sides of the caldera of an extinct volcano — via Home Design Find

Back in 1974, the Kawasaki Z1 was the most exotic thing on two wheels. And nearly four decades later, it’s lost none of its lustre. This high-performance custom is a collaboration between the Japanese workshop Bull Dock and the British suspension manufacturer Nitron — hence the paintjob in Nitron’s brand colors — via Bike EXIF

The Chinaman’s Beach House [Fox Johnston] is sited on a northeast facing site overlooking Chinaman’s Beach and Sydney Heads — via ArchDaily

Well, here’s a surprise. A Chinese-built motorcycle with a dash of style, reportedly good build quality, and a nod to the Japanese racing heritage of the 1960s.

It’s the Sky Team Ace 125, a loose replica of the Honda CR110 racer. Honda itself created a replica in 2004, the lovely Dream 50R, but the Ace 125 is a mass-market bike available to all. It’s passed homologation and emissions tests and the US sticker price will be around $2,500 — via Bike EXIF

Póvoa de Varzim is a city profoundly related to the sea and fishing. Its great cultural richness became an interesting stimulus to the project. In fact, the house [dIONISO LAB] was an opportunity to revitalise some of the city’s memories and to participate in the panoply of colours and materials that characterise the street — via ArchDaily

Located in the south western part of the Hungarian capital of Budapest, Simplon A [T2.a Architects] was built as the residential part of a mixed-use development and has quickly become a colourful new piece of the neighbouring urban landscape — via ArchDaily

The Katana GSX1100S had a strange gestation. It was conceived in Bavaria by Target Design, at the behest of Suzuki’s marketing manager for Germany. This Katana, however, comes from the Japanese resto-mod masters AC Sanctuary. Called the RCM-189 Final Edition, it’s designed to be the ultimate expression of the breed — via Bike EXIF

I know there are often valid reasons for selling, but I am amazed that so many houses featured on the Grand Designs show go on the market so soon after being built. The Tree House four bedroom property in Binstead, Isle of Wight (aka Tane) is another addition to the list, built in 2010 and on the market in 2012.

You can watch the episode it was featured in right now on the Channel 4 website, which shows the couple behind it buying an old bungalow, then transforming it into their dream home with one eye on it blending the new place into the surrounding woodland.

If the house and the move to the Isle of Wight appeals, you’ll need to find somewhere around the £1,000,000 to secure this place — via WowHaus