If you’ve been over at our UK blog you’ll know that Laura Ashley’s family home in Wales is up for sale.

Another former home of the design doyen is on the market at the moment – an 18th century French chateau in Picardy.

It’s a rather more lavish and aristocratic affair than the house in Wales: four reception rooms, 11 bedroom suites, extensive outbuildings, a walled park, English lawns, a swimming pool and tennis court, and grounds of 34 acres.

Here are some pictures:

If you’re looking for something a little bit different – and you have £11,366,250 to spend – then take a look at this Cyrpus property.

It’s billed as a ‘beachfront villa’ but we suggest you forget any notions of traditional white-washed Mediterranean houses that description may conjure up. Yes, it might be white, but traditional it’s not. Instead, it takes modern living to the extreme.

Based on the Great Wave off Kanagawa, a famous woodblock printing by the Japanese artist Hokusai, this remarkable-looking property is described as “the most exclusive and luxurious project to date in Cyprus”.

It’s not just remarkable on the outside either. The interior has been designed to satisfy even the most expensive of tastes, using top quality materials, and everything you see within has been carefully selected to tie in with the overall futuristic concept.

It comes with six bedrooms and six bathrooms, a swimming pool with not one but two Jacuzzis, a gym, a private garden and a huge veranda.

It’s in an ideal location too. It’s situated on Dekelia beach, near the town of Larnaca, and is a 15 minute drive from the island’s main marina, a 20 minute drive from the country’s main airport and only a 10 minute drive from the passenger port of Cyprus.