Lusitanian poetry

IMMERSED IN GREENERY, THE PORTUGUESE HOME OF A WINE ENTREPRENEUR OFFERS AN ORIGINAL TAKE ON THE FORMS OF LOCAL ARCHITECTURE. AND CONTAINS PERIOD PIECES AND ART.

The Tróia Penisola in Portugal is a narrow strip of land facing the Atlantic, at the height of Setúbal, after Comporta, famous for its golf courses. Past the resorts, the scenery gets more authentic, with lagoons and woods. This is where Noemi Marone Cinzano found a perfect spot for her Portuguese home. She soon discovered that her 50 acres were close to the home of Christian Louboutin, the famous footwear designer. Once at the helm of the famous vermouth brand, she already had a house in Argentina, where she produces organic Malbec wine, the Bodega Noemia de Patagonia. But she wanted to have a base in Europe once more, to be close to the children she had with her ex-husband, the count Gelasio Gaetani d’Aragona Lovatelli. Though close to fashionable Comporta, she was able to find a very discreet location, «like a little secret». After purchasing the property, Cinzano decided to demolish a house from the 1980s that stood there, and then called in interior designer John Stefanidis, who had worked with Cinzano in the 1990s on her London residence. «John has a very Mediterranean style», the owner explains. She wanted a refuge to use in different periods of the year, a place to relax. «It is a rather egotistical house», Stefanidis says. «Just two guestrooms, no more». The design is simple and functional: the layout on the ground f loor has open, versatile living areas, while the second level contains one of the guestrooms and a small studio. The veranda faces a lagoon surrounded by dunes, with the ocean in the distance. The color scheme relies on her favorite tones of pink and green; the kitchen floor is in raspberry cement, one guestroom is in a geranium hue, while the chairs on the veranda are in intense pink, in contrast with the green of the dining table. When she sold her house in London a few years ago, Cinzano was left with a lot of furniture and art, including two 19th-century desks – one French, one Spanish – which belonged to a grandmother, and a portrait of Lord Byron by Aldo Mondino, which now looms over the fireplace. «She brought the past here, so to speak», says Stefanidis. The house has gradually been enhanced by works of creative friends, the Turkish fabrics of interior designer Rifat Özbek in the library, or the handles designed by Ashley Hicks, and the ethereal female portrait made by Beatrice Caracciolo. Stefanidis has designed a number of one-offs, including a coffee table inlaid with mother-of-pearl and lapis lazuli. Furthermore, the French garden designer Louis Benech and the Spanish landscape designer Fernando Martos have provided precious advice on the green spaces, which contain 15,000 pine trees and a small vineyard.