What Wine Lovers Need For On-The-Hill Retreat In Italy

5/25/2017

The hills in Pereta, Italy have been gifted with natural fresh air, olive trees and vineyards. Maremma House sits on one of these hills, where one can feel the breeze while enjoying vast views of the neighbourhood and beyond to the Tyrrhenian Sea, all from this poetic contemporary home.

Photo by Studio Ponsi Doc.

The house is situated among the lush vineyards that produce Morellino di Scansano, a famous dry red wine. Hence, the home’s architecture stands out in between the trees. It offers a bold intervention since Maremma has been given a modern design with rigid lines, in contrast to the organic shape of surrounding objects. The building’s masses were inspired by the hills and have been layered: The largest mass sits at the lower position as a support, while the smallest mass is on top.

The three-storey vacation home has a simple space program distributed over the 200-sqm gross floor area. The first floor consists of two spacious bedrooms and mechanical rooms. The second floor has a common area of connected kitchen, dining and living room, with elongated pivot windows overlooking the surrounding landscape. There is a terrace that connects the common area with the swimming pool to one side and a porch that connects to a single-bedroom pavilion.

The porch has minimalist outdoor stairs connecting to the third floor and a rooftop terrace with a jaw-dropping 360-degree view of the natural landscape that slopes to the sea. There is a bedroom on this floor that allows people to wake up to this view.

The facade of the building reveals its three-storey construction. Each floor has been decorated differently. The first floor was interpreted as a part of the ground, hence the exposed side is covered with tufa stone. This locally sourced limestone gives a sense of place, as it is widely used in the neighbourhood as a part of local building traditions.

The second floor has spaces where people can gather, thus whitewashed stucco walls offer a neutral base to be filled. Inspired by Mediterranean architecture, this floor has massive walls with big openings for doors and windows. The contrasting colours of the material of the second floor makes the mass appear to float. The construction has been crowned by a smaller mass that has been sheathed by wooden planks. “The top floor evokes nautical architecture, making the entire house resemble by analogy the shape of a ship run aground,” says architect Andrea Ponsi of Studio Ponsi Architecture and Design.

Directed by a father-and-son duo, the studio is best known for its fondness for designing with copper. In this project, copper and brass were used as the main accent materials for interior finishes. Andrea and his son Luca decided to use galvanized steel for the facade and outdoor segments, such as railings and staircases, for its strong and weather resistant character. The architects, who are also the owners of the house, have ensured that they could enjoy the luxury of personalization by making custom designs for all interior and outdoor furnishings and fixtures, including the floor baseboards, cabinets, lighting fixtures and copper radiators.

Sitting on the top of the hill, the house offers guests optimum natural light. Every room enjoys natural light during the day as well as the framed natural landscape. A comfortable temperature is naturally kept by greenery. Maremma was built as a vacation home and boasts an impeccable ambiance that suits an idyllic summer vacation or a weekend getaway.

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Barbara Hahijary
Author
Barbara earned her bachelor's degree in architecture from the Interior Architecture Program of the University of Indonesia in 2013. Historical or heritage buildings, as well as utilitarian design, fascinates her as it is the interaction between people and architecture that remains her favourite topic to explore. Besides architecture, her interests include design, handcrafts, literature and social issues.