One Happo

Listed by Forbes among the five most opulent ski chalets in Asia, One Happo holds the ridge directly opposite the Olympic Happo One resort, a red-brick and cedar tower rising through a stand of larch and cedar, its curved black roofline catching the last light above the Northern Japan Alps. Floor-to-ceiling glass turns every level toward the mountain, so the ski runs and the peaks beyond are never out of view.

Inside, glass, marble and stainless steel set a minimalist tone, warmed throughout by western red cedar panelling underfoot and overhead. A show kitchen anchored by paneled Miele ovens opens onto a table dressed for ten, a full-height glass wine cellar and mirrored bar close at hand. Beyond it, a cedar-lined billiards room, a screening lounge and a fitness studio running the length of the building give the chalet room to gather and to disperse. Down in the slate-tiled bathrooms, a black-stone soaking bath looks straight out at the forest and the peaks beyond, the kind of view that turns a bath into the reason for the day.

Outside, snow banks against the cedar cladding through the winter, and the ski runs turn to green meadow come summer, just beyond the trees. From the terrace, the whole of the Happo One valley, lift lines, village rooftops, the Alps stacked behind, unrolls in one uninterrupted sweep. It is a house for coming in from the cold and staying a while.