A holiday home in Puglia

Peculiar to the area of Puglia in the ‘heel’ of Italy are ancient lifestock/shepard dwellings , which have become fashionable to convert in to homes and hotels. These are known as Trulli .

The facade wall still features stone loopholes where the horses might be tied up. The base of the

trullo might have housed livestock , whilst in the conical upper section, the shepard/farmer would fashion a simple sleeping platform.

A lower terrace area features an outdoor kitchen/barbecue area and a magnificent, but simple stone dining table .

Centered on this terrace table is an iron horse sculpture from a local artist.

A guest bedroom in the holiday house has simple decorations . Walls are of polished plaster ( stucco Veneziano) .

A classic iron bedstead ( raised off the floor ) and linen curtains ( instead of wardrobe doors ) assist with the humid months in the winter.

Another bedroom of olive and aqua, given a dramatic scheme of deep olive walls of polished plaster, with antique cupboards and furniture in dark aqua blue. The effect is both calming and cooling.

A Venetian four poor bed and unusual ( nicely tall) bedside lamps are of black ebonies finishes.

Contemporary art with all our colours complement the scheme .

The challenges faced on this project include matching and integrating the 300 year old truly with the contemporary ‘lamia’ building added on. Also the architect/master builder with no English and I with no Italian.

Shot at night, the interior dining area and kitchen look quite cosy. Glass table and perspex chairs and stair well balustrade don’t interrupt the external vistas over olive groves and gardens.