8 Urban Places to Inspire Your Lifestyle — Discover Your Taste, Gain Inspiration
Tea ceremony, bonsai, hiking, deep listening, wellness, vintage furniture, museums, garden strolls — eight spaces where you can discover your own taste and find inspiration with TIME HOMME.
8 Urban Places to Inspire Your Lifestyle — Discover Your Taste, Gain Inspiration
We seek out moments of travel that let you recharge body and mind without going far. From a mountainside that takes in the whole of downtown Seoul to a complex wellness facility nestled in quiet nature, this is a journey that fills your senses and thoughts, together with the TIME HOMME 2026 Resort Collection.
Words Pitch by Pitch
Photos Kim Yoonkyung
collaborated with TIME HOMME
#Tea Ritual
Chacha Tea Club Bukchon Lounge
In a beautifully preserved traditional hanok in Bukchon, Chacha Tea Club has opened its doors — a tea curation brand that uses tea as a means to slow the pace of daily life. Here, you brew loose-leaf tea yourself in traditional teaware and savor the tea’s true aroma and flavor in full. Take a seat on the wooden veranda overlooking the garden, and the aesthetics of ‘borrowed scenery’ come into sharp focus: in the shifting shadows of leaves swaying in the breeze and the soft clink of teaware, you encounter a dense sense of ease. The lineup ranges from white, oolong, and black teas sourced from tea-growing regions including China’s Yunnan Province, to green and dark tea from Boseong, Jeollanam-do, and persimmon-leaf tea from Hadong, Gyeongsangnam-do. The loose-leaf teas, carefully selected by a tea sommelier, reveal their distinct character even to first-time drinkers, and the tea variation menu — think hoji espuma or lemon myrtle matcha soda — is wonderfully original. Pair your tea with desserts that reinterpret traditional Korean sweets in a modern way for an even deeper flavor experience. The Minari Breeze, made with green tea, water dropwort, and Boseong baby kiwi syrup, can only be tasted at the Bukchon Lounge.
+ 103-7 Gyedong-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul
#Art
Museum Hanmi Samcheong
At the far edge of Samcheong-dong, on a quiet hill screened by Bukaksan Mountain, stands a museum devoted entirely to photography. The Hanmi Museum of Photography, Korea’s first museum dedicated solely to the medium, relocated to its current site and reopened in 2022 as Museum Hanmi Samcheong. The museum holds a collection of some 20,000 pieces tracing the flow of Korean photographic history, along with an extensive archive and a world-class storage facility. Three buildings, reflecting architect Min Hyunshik’s philosophy of ‘constructing emptiness,’ circle around a central courtyard; the ‘Garden of Water’ at its axis best embodies this aesthetic. Watching its surface ripple into a different scene with every shift of light and wind has a remarkably clarifying effect on the mind. The exhibition halls present not only traditional photography but also contemporary art made through the medium. Cross over to the annex opposite, and you can freely browse art books and Museum Hanmi’s own publications, while the rooftop offers a sweeping view of the lush greenery along the mountainside. The main building is currently showing an exhibition introducing major series by four contemporary Korean photographers, running through July 19.
+ 45 Samcheong-ro 9-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul
#Listening
Concino Concrete
At Concino Concrete, set along the Han River in Paju with a view of Songaksan Mountain in Kaesong beyond the Imjin River, music alone takes center stage. The four-story concrete building, designed with pure sound reproduction in mind, is the work of architect Min Hyunjun, who also designed the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul. The 150-seat music hall soars to a ceiling height of 9 meters, and one wall is lined with theater speakers made by America’s Western Electric in the 1930s and Germany’s Euronor Junior. Unlike most listening cafés, this space serves nothing but bottled water — the only thing permitted here besides music is the view. Seated along the windowed walls and corners of the building, visitors can choose the scenery they prefer while enjoying the music. The front-facing window seats overlooking the North are especially striking at dusk, when the shifting colors of the sky stir even deeper emotion. The venue’s collection is just as compelling: some 10,000 LPs alongside vintage phonographs, instruments, speakers, original posters, and photographs, all assembled over many years by the music-loving owner.
+ 2nd fl., 17 Saeori-ro 161beon-gil, Tanhyeon-myeon, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do
#Planterior
Donalanc
Located near the Chusa Museum in Gwacheon, Donalanc is a fascinating destination for everyone from bonsai beginners to seasoned enthusiasts and collectors. The cradle of a premium bonsai brand with a 30-year history and a bonsai concept shop in one, it houses a roughly 660-square-meter greenhouse at the back of the store, brimming with pine, Chinese juniper, Prunus mume, and pyracantha, among other plants. Among them, the ceramic bonsai pots — said to be the world’s first of their kind, developed by Donalanc — are undoubtedly the star attraction. Fitted with a lid and drainage hole, these bonsai vessels are custom-made at a ceramic studio in Yeoju, adding a distinctly Korean elegance to each tree’s individual character, so that every piece feels like a work of art. Browsing the bonsai plants, no two shaped alike, you’ll naturally start to discover your own taste. The staghorn ferns near the entrance are beloved for the same reason — each specimen varies completely in leaf shape, texture, and growth direction, and once you catch the collecting bug, there’s no turning back. With more than 8,000 bonsai plants and rare orchids gathered in one place, you’re sure to find a pot that speaks to you.
+ 66 Chusa-ro, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do
#Hiking
Inwangsan Mountain + Choso Chaekbang
Is there another place where such a short hike can offer a panoramic view of downtown Seoul? Climbing the steep stairs between acacia trees, you’ll soon spot the fortress wall tracing the ridge, before arriving at the massive Beombawi Rock. Less than ten minutes from the entrance of Inwangsan Park, the city of Seoul already stretches out beneath your feet. Inwangsan is a mountain formed entirely of granite. The trail to the summit runs along a steep rocky ridge, so if reaching the top feels daunting, climbing only as far as Beombawi Rock is more than enough. Visiting around sunset, when the deep red sun begins to sink, lets you witness a dramatic shift as the noisy city below is slowly swallowed by darkness. Walking along the illuminated wall of the Fortress of Seoul at night is also highly recommended for the atmosphere it offers. Along the slopes of Inwangsan are several resting spots perfect for stopping by before or after a hike. Among them, Deosup Choso Bookshop is a bookstore-café built inside a former police guard post — a space with an unobstructed view, fitting for a site that once helped guard the Blue House. It’s also fascinating to spot traces of its past, like the outer walls, entrance door, and steel oil tanks.
+ San 2-1, Muak-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul
#Wellness
Trivium
Created by an aromatherapist wife and a landscape architect husband, Trivium is a perfect refuge for those seeking quiet respite away from urban noise. Embraced by mountains, water, and sky, the space invites guests to care for body and mind through yoga, meditation, and aromatherapy, or to slip into total rest while viewing exhibitions and enjoying quiet contemplation. The buildings, designed by the husband himself, focus on ‘borrowed scenery’ that draws in the surrounding landscape, and Trivista is the main space that best embodies this philosophy. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows at the front, the village’s modest farmland and reservoir unfold like a framed painting, with the mountain ridge beyond, while shallow water pooled beneath the open-centered ceiling captures every shift in nature. The same holds true for the tea lounge steeped in greenery, the rooftop that draws focus to mountain and sky, and the exhibition hall where art and nature harmonize. Adding to this, a custom scent blended from natural essential oils gently wraps around your mind for the duration of your stay. All programs run entirely by reservation, making it ideal for spending truly private time.
+ 175-4 Dongcheon 2-gil, Jinwi-myeon, Pyeongtaek-si, Gyeonggi-do
#Garden
Seokpajeong + Seoul Museum
During the Joseon dynasty, gardens built for enjoying scholarship and refined leisure away from worldly affairs were called byeolseo gardens. Nestled on the northeastern slope of Inwangsan, Seokpajeong once served as the retreat of the late Joseon official Kim Heunggeun before later becoming the villa of Regent Heungseon Daewongun. Strolling slowly through the garden, you come to understand the phrase carved into one of the rocks: ‘a house embraced by water and clouds.’ From the porch of the annex, the lush greenery and massive boulders of Inwangsan spread out beyond the tiled roof of the main hall, and as you wander along the garden’s many paths, maple trees of uncertain age arch overhead, casting cool shade. Part of Seokpajeong’s charm lies in the serenity offered by things that have endured through time — a 650-year-old pine tree called Cheonsesong, a three-story stone pagoda from the Silla dynasty, and a broad, flat rock. Right next door stands Seoul Museum, opened in 2012, where visitors can enjoy contemporary art exhibitions set against the backdrop of Seokpajeong. Until August 17, the outdoor garden hosts a sculpture exhibition by artist Oh Donghoon, while the main building presents an exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of Kim Sangyu’s birth.
+ 4-1 Changuimun-ro 11-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul
#Design Furniture
Apartment Full Market
It looks like an enormous warehouse, but this space gathers the sincerity and vision of a furniture collector in one place. Having relocated from Seongsu-dong to Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do, the offline shop of Apartment Full is a secondhand furniture trading platform launched by One Ordinary Mansion, known for introducing original 20th-century vintage furniture. What sets Apartment Full apart is its expertise in authenticating vintage furniture and assessing market value, efficiently connecting consignors with buyers. Across a space spanning roughly 3,300 square meters, the entire process unfolds — from selecting and restoring consigned furniture to photographing and selling it. More than 1,000 pieces of furniture and objects, from tableware and lighting by high-end brands and legendary designers to chairs, tables, and cabinets, are arranged in harmony, resembling a vast set built solely for furniture. Each item comes with detailed information — price, designer, the consignor’s story, local market value, and a price assessment — making the journey of discovering a piece that moves you all the more exciting.
+ 163 Jikdong-ro, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do
TIME HOMME Resort Collection
TIME HOMME’s Resort Collection is a seasonal capsule collection that reinterprets relaxed resort looks — perfect for stepping away from everyday life — through TIME HOMME’s signature modern, refined sensibility. Featuring pieces that move freely between formalwear and resort casual, this collection invites you to visit the places of inspiration that Pitch by Pitch has curated alongside it.
