El Palacio de Cristal del Retiro

A bit of heavenliness in Madrid, Spain...

Via here and here

Madrileño

Constructed in the 17th century and once a convent, this is the spectacular home of antiques dealer and interior designer Lorenzo Castillo in Madrid...

All images photographed by Simon Upton for Elle Decor

Duchess of Alba

In my next life, I think I may just want to be the Duchess of Alba. Unashamedly bold and audacious, at 85 she has just married her third husband, Alfonso Diez - 25 years her junior. She is exempt from kneeling before the Pope, and with 47 titles - including the Grandes de España - she has ridden on horseback into the Seville Cathedral. My fantasy kindred spirit? Yes, her life sounds quite ideal, especially zig-zagging between the six spectacular palaces owned throughout Spain, littered with Rembrandts and Brueghels (to name but a few)...

All photographs by Simon Watson