Journal / Cities · 9 Aug 2026 · 5 min read
Dubai and the rise of the sky villa
Private pools ninety floors up, gardens in the clouds: Dubai invented a new kind of house. A tour of the five best.
A sky villa is a house that happens to be on the eightieth floor: a front door, a garden, a pool and no neighbours on your level.
Dubai’s developers compete on what can be lifted up a tower — trees, sand, a full-size pool. The result is the most theatrical housing on earth.
“The best view in the city is the one nobody else can see.”
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