A rare example of Bauhaus style in the Alps, Pension Briol has been owned by the same family for more than a century. In the late 1920s, Viennese painter Hubert Lanzinger (who had married into the family) gutted the existing structure and turned it into a modernist alpine retreat with spacious whitewashed rooms and oversize windows to capture the views; little has changed since—the interior features the original Lanzinger-designed pine furniture, fixtures, and even crockery. Located in the Dolomite mountains of northern Italy, the pension is an hour's trek up a mountain path from the village of Barbiano. Go to Pension Briol for more information.

Interesting sidenote: Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, the 2009 Pritzker Prize laureate, has designed a suite of five treehouses for Briol (still to be built); the plans and watercolors are included in Zumthor: Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture.

Photos via All Things Considered, The Guardian, and Flickr.