PRESERVING HISTORY

ON A CLIFFTOP OVERLOOKING THE MEDITERRANEAN STANDS A 19TH-CENTURY FARMHOUSE THAT’S BEEN RENOVATED BY AN ACCLAIMED LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT.

“THE HOUSE APPEARS AND THEN HIDES among gorse, strawberry trees, holm oaks, Aleppo pines and olive trees. It seems perpetually on the verge of sailing from the promontory, as if it were an ancient sailing ship.”

That’s how Marco Bay, a renowned landscape architect from Milan, describes his home in Liguria, Italy, in his 2018 book Drawing with Trees: Stories of Gardens. After detailing his many high-profile projects – which include a garden at the Palazzo Reale (or Royal Palace) in Milan and the garden beds in the city’s main square, the Piazza del Duomo – he writes lyrically about his beloved house, which is perched on the clifftops above the famed holiday resort of Portofino on the Italian Riviera. You can almost see the changing colours of the seasons, and hear the sounds of all the birds and animals on the property.

You can only go so far by car to get to the house. Then you must walk along a steep mountain path to the gate – so discreet it’s almost hidden – and suddenly, you’ve arrived in paradise. This house and its setting are so beautiful that both the architect and the landscape architect worked with the lightest of touches.

“The renovation was mainly conserving what was there,” explains Marco, who escapes the hustle and bustle of Milan to spend time at the house with his wife and daughters. “The building dates back to the mid-19th century, and still has its original Genoese pink colour, with the typical Ligurian shutters painted blue-green. The internal >

stone staircase and the doorframes are original, too.”

It’s not just the house that has an authentic air. “The landscape is wild, a still ancient and visceral kind of Liguria, where roads are made of rammed earth or stone,” explains Marco. Tree trunks have been sculpted by the wind, and there’s a rich Mediterranean blend of heather, myrtle and mastic.

When Marco took possession of the house it was uninhabitable, so he slept in a tent under the pines and began to create the vegetable garden that today produces wonderful tomatoes, and to bring the neglected olive grove back to life. But, says Marco, “I didn’t act as a landscape architect. Working with my hands prevailed over intellectual practices.”

The building is set over two levels: the kitchen and living room are on the ground floor, while upstairs four bedrooms open off a central room, a common feature in the region’s traditional farmhouses. Separated from the main building is an annexe for guests, with a rooftop sun terrace that offers a breathtaking view.

Inside, the home has a warm but sophisticated feel. Travel mementos sit next to family pieces, plus some furnishings salvaged from the well-known La Gritta >

“The landscape is wild, a still ancient and visceral kind of Liguria, where roads are made of rammed earth or stone.”

The kitchen has been custom designed and is a creative place where the family conjures delicious meals from the produce they grow here.

bar in Portofino, where the smart set went to party during the 1950s. The kitchen has been custom designed and is a creative place where the family conjures delicious meals from the produce they grow here; in the living room the fireplace, bordered with Moroccan tiles, warms the space, while the velvet-covered staircase handrail adds tactile decorative detail.

It’s a home designed for the joys of good company – and for the joys of nature. Standing on a 180-metre-high clifftop, the house has awe-inspiring views over both coast and mountains. But when the sea is calm, there’s nothing to hear but silence. At night, the lights are kept low, the better to see the flickering fireflies and other natural wonders. “My wife and daughters complain about the lack of lights around the house, but I resist,” says Marco. “I don’t want to lose the poetry of the moon’s reflections on the sea.”

On the first floor, the bedrooms range out from a central space. FACING PAGE The calming blue of the sea defines the landscape of Liguria.

CLOCKWISE, FROM ABOVE (INCLUDING FACING PAGE) On the wall above the bench is a photograph by Marco; the interior of the annexe, with a 1950s table and chairs by Gianfranco Frattini; in the living room, the benches come from the historic La Gritta bar in Portofino, famous during the 1950s; purple shades in nature are echoed on the staircase that reaches the first floor; on the shelf in the living room is a Sardinian wedding basket from Carloforte, once a Ligurian colony; Marco Bay outside his home.

CLOCKWISE, FROM ABOVE A view of the Gulf of Tigullio; the outbuilding reserved for guests has a stone facade; a painting by G. Novelli, German mushrooms from the 1930s, old silver objects from the Hotel Rapallo and ceramics from Caltagirone. FACING PAGE The kitchen designed by the owner with long open shelves.

On the mantelpiece, framed in brass, stand travel mementos including a vase by Venini, a stone slab featuring a Neapolitan woman and Tunisian bottles. The bamboo lamp on the table comes from Laos.

The delightful terrace located above the guest annexe. FACING PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT In the master bedroom, a canopy bed from Lucca and Indian fabric on the wall; a collection of ex-voto paintings on the wall in the same room, plus an Azucena lamp; the master bathroom is painted in Farrow & Ball Stone Blue, with a bronze lamp from an antique shop.