If you can’t stand the heat, try a snow room—or retractable walls, or an underground retreat
Never let ’em see you sweat. For the ultra-wealthy, that old adage is no longer just about poise, it’s about climate mastery. While record-breaking heatwaves continue to stifle Europe and the other parts of the world this summer, causing fights over air conditioning units in France and record wildfires in Spain, heading to a cottage is starting to feel like a baseline move. Today’s elite are going to extraordinary lengths to manipulate their microclimates, from morphing mansions to underground snow rooms.
Homes that morph and move
“Today, because of the climate, luxury is increasingly about adaptability—spaces that change character depending on the weather; roofs that open and glass walls that disappear; brise-soleils that track the sun; wellness spaces that transition from hot to cold,” says Grant Kirkpatrick, a founding partner and design principal at AD PRO Directory studio KAA Design in Los Angeles. He is currently designing a Las Vegas estate (where the outdoor thermometer read 109 degrees Fahrenheit during a recent site visit) with a pool and entertainment pavilion—its retractable glass roof and walls allow it to remain air conditioned when closed or opened to the elements during milder desert evenings. “It’s less about creating a bunker from the heat and more about designing environments that respond to changing conditions throughout the day and across the seasons,” he explains.
Snow rooms and other season-changing spas
A snow room by The Spa Butler Courtesy The Spa Butler
Other design pros have fielded recent requests to design interior spaces that change the season altogether. Snow rooms, enclosed caverns of ice and snow, sometimes incorporating gently falling flakes, are the latest at-home flex for some of the world’s wealthiest, according to The New York Times. Tyler Slater, the COO and co-owner of The Spa Butler, a Plano, Texas, company that both manufactures and installs snow rooms, has seen “a noticeable uptick” in inquiries and sales for snow rooms in private homes this year. A standard 7-by-10-foot model starts at $128,000 but Slater notes that most installations are not standalone: “They are typically incorporated into a larger home wellness suite.” Increasingly, that setup includes an ice bath, the more intense relative of the überpopular cold plunge, according to Los Angeles AD PRO Directory studio Tim Barber Architects. Dallas-based AD PRO Directory designer Chad Dorsey pairs these spa amenities inside the home with shaded outdoor showers for quick heat relief when in the backyard. Think of it as the chic version of a cooling spray from the hose.
Underground retreats
The JZA+D–designed wine room Photo: Mick Hales/JZA+D
For a chill capitalizing on the earth’s natural thermal mass, move underground. In Princeton, New Jersey, design studio JZA+D transformed a client’s basement into a 2,000-square-foot “cooling retreat,” with a home theater, gym, lounge, and a wine-tasting room maintained at 50 degrees Fahrenheit, the ideal temperature to serve white vintages. A rack of winter coats nearby can keep guests warm while they indulge. “Starting at about four feet below grade the temperature of the earth is remarkably consistent, usually no warmer than 55 degrees Fahrenheit,” explains managing partner and lead architect Joshua Zinder. “The earth, in direct contact with the basement walls, draws heat out and away.”
The design strategy not only keeps residents cool, but also their food supply. Joseph Carline, a partner at AD PRO Directory studio Kligerman Architecture & Design in New York, has seen a rise in traditional root cellars in luxury homes. “These provisions pantries offer subterranean low energy preservation of produce, charcuterie, and fine wines,” the architect says. With more of his clients requesting large edible gardens, safe summer storage is imperative.
Permanent “coolcations”
A property in Queenstown, NZ currently for sale via Sotheby’s International Realty. Courtesy Sotheby’s Realty
Some homeowners are skipping town to escape the seasonal heatwaves altogether. For the ultimate “coolcation,” they are buying property—sometimes multiple homes—in colder locales. “Affluent buyers are building portfolios of properties that allow them to move with the seasons and live where they want, when they want,” says Philip White, president and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty. “It’s less about chasing a single cool week away and more about designing a year-round lifestyle across multiple destinations.” This year, interest is growing in Verbier and St. Moritz in Switzerland, Whistler in Canada, and Queenstown, New Zealand, “where elevation helps moderate summer temperatures while still offering the luxury amenities affluent buyers expect,” he adds. If you can’t take the heat at home, design it away—or move to a new season entirely.
Architectural Digest – Elizabeth Fazzare, July 15 2026