Marble meets Minecraft in a Tuscan villa

Marble meets Minecraft in a Tuscan villa that pays modern homage to its raw materiality

The scene opens in the Tuscan seaside town of Forte dei Marmi, a quiet resort known for its five-kilometre stretch of beach, flanked by cabins, that exudes a kind of Fellini-esque romance. a two-hour drive from Milan, this sheltered enclave has a chic swagger to it, albeit a low-key one, that’s hard to miss. It was this that served as the starting point for interior designer Vincenzo de cotiis who, with unfailing vision, reimagined this forty-something-year-old villa in volumes of marble, glass and wood.

‘I wanted to renew it with a strongly mineral aspect that seemed to me to capture the original art deco spirit of Forte dei Marmi but this time it would be played out in a minimal, rectilinear design that rid itself of any decorative excess,’ says Vincenzo. ‘Line work is something that has always been a constant in my practice.’

When the owner, achingly cool Milanese businessman and chairman of Bonaudo leather tannery alessandro Iliprandi, demanded a house in marble, Vincenzo set his sights on Italian Verde alpi. ‘I like the idea of immersing the house in nature and the green, with its many nuances, is a comforting and relaxing colour,’ says the designer. The viridescent marble swimming pool, along with the home’s façade, disappears into the lawn, with its bursts of regal magnolia – their fashionability in the 1930s perhaps another nod to a gilded, bygone era – oaks, tamarisks and bamboos.

With a Tetris-like execution, Vincenzo developed a stacked cube style in terms of both the architecture and decorating,

‘i wanted to renew it with a strongly mineral aspect’

opting for a succinct palette of green marble, recycled wood and golden brass for the latter. With the exception of some vintage modernist pieces by Pierre Jeanneret, Vincenzo designed all the furniture, while also organizing the garden and creating the artworks, even going so far as to paint the silk panels in the bedroom by hand. The final effect is one of complete homogeneity between the interiors and exteriors, a family home comprising two separate villas – the main one containing the living and entertaining spaces while a smaller secondary one houses the gym and guest rooms. ‘It’s a seaside house, a summer house where you live outside and inside without distinction. It is the apotheosis of open-plan living,’ says Vincenzo.

‘I like working with Vincenzo, who previously created our apartment in Milan, because he listens to our way of life, our needs and our tastes,’ concludes alessandro. ‘his creativity is fuelled by a desire to create something that is just for you, something unique.’ Vincenzo de Costiis 8 decotiis.it n

The pool and façade of The house have been Treated in The same quality of italian verde alpi marble. To exaggerate The greenery, The roof has been vegetated

from left The homeowners, alessandro iliprandi and francis cordova, on The Terrace; The indoor living room and Terrace feel like one space, The linenvelvet upholstered seats matching The outdoor benches in marble

in The kitchen, verde alpi marble was used on The floor and central island