Our top properties of the week

Welcome to our weekend property digest, where we bring together the best houses for sale (or rent) that we’ve unearthed across the world. This week, we bring you a pair of Brutalist homes and a houseboat that rethinks the confines of life on the water.

Tropical brutalist home in Puerto Rico, US

This brutalist eco-home is for sale on Puerto Rico’s Vieques Island — Photography: B. Michael Sorenson / Puerto Rico Sotheby’s International Realty

3 bedrooms; $1.399m via Sotheby’s International Realty
Built atop a mountain ridge on Vieques Island – Puerto Rico’s ‘little sister’ – Casa Cascadas is an exercise in tropical Brutalism. The John Hix-designed island property has large letter-box style windows and openings which help naturally ventilate the eco-home, while shaded terraces provide outdoor living spaces with water views. Peek inside.

Live/work store in Melbourne, Australia

Victorian-era store is for sale in Melbourne's Fitzroy — Photography: JellisCraig

Guide price of $1.05m AUD via JellisCraig
Let your imagination run wild with this Fitzroy Victorian store which is packed with period features including tin plate ceilings, iron fireplaces and gilded window panes. The townhouse is set over five rooms and has previously been used as a shop and hair salon. See more.

Midcentury A-Frame in Palm Springs, US

6 bedrooms; $2.99m via Sotheby’s International Realty
This chalet-style home was built in the 1950s with an A-frame design by architect Charles DuBois. Interiors have tongue-and-groove ceilings and teak panelling and stay true to their midcentury roots. Take a spin inside.

A moody houseboat in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Courtesy of Amsterdam Sotheby’s International Realty

3 bedrooms; €1.495 million via Amsterdam Sotheby’s International Realty
Think houseboats are cramped? Lofty ceilings and a moody monochrome colour palette turn conventional ideas about floating homes on their head with this Amsterdam property.

Brutalist artist’s home in Bois-le-Rois, France

5 bedrooms; $1.21m via Architecture for Sale
There’s modernism, and then there’s supermodernism in the vein of French architect Claude Parent. He designed Bordeaux Le Pecq House in 1965 for an artist, and it features a curving roof and raw concrete interiors that will impress the most ardent Brutalism fans. Look inside.