COME IN FROM THE COLD

One family's ski lodge set high in the French Alps has had a thoroughly modern makeover with light and warmth at its core

-  RUTH CORBETT

Some might say Courchevel and Verbier have more cachet, but the tiny ski town of Megève in the French Alps gamely holds its own against its glitzy neighbours. Its fairytale ski trails, Michelin-starred restaurants and chic shopping parades are what appealed to the ski-obsessed English couple who, in 2007, bought a ramshackle wooden farmhouse there. The chalet was to be a second home for them and their family. They knocked it into basic shape and enjoyed many winters, and summers, at the house before inviting interior architect Hélène Roux of Les Montagnardes to take on a full renovation three years ago.