Infinite horizon

HOVERING OVER LAKE COMO, A VILLA PAYS TRIBUTE TO ITS INDUSTRIAL PAST WITH RUGGED, CONTEMPORARY FINISHES.

The best way to get here is by water, also because since 1921 this vaguely industrial building on Lake Como was the headquarters of the Cramar shipyard. In 1960 the company moved elsewhere, and the building was abandoned until its total renovation by the architect Massimiliano Nutricati and the interior designer Dario Turani for a Dutch entrepreneur, transforming the place for residential use. Only the original volumes and look have been conserved, in a parallelepiped of white concrete with large windows overlooking the lake. «Our project has kept only the pillars in gray Moltrasio stone. Everything else is contemporary, like an urban loft rather than a vacation home, with a rugged industrial image», says Dario Turani. Gray salvaged wood and oak for floors and panels, resin, concrete and iron window frames form a contrast with the surrounding landscape. The lake level contains a living area with a large kitchen, a fitness room with Technogym equipment, a fumoir clad in wood, and a space with a large billiard table. The first floor is for the garage and the bedrooms (seven in all) with their own bathrooms. On the second level there are two separate residential units which the owner has kept for himself, setting aside the rest of the villa for luxury rentals. The interior design takes the owner’s passion for contemporary art into account. «We even designed the furnishings around the paintings and sculptures selected by the client», Turani adds. The decor is international, with an accent on Nordic tastes and Italian craftsmanship. A terrace of 350 square meters surrounds the first floor, offering a swimming pool and a solarium furnished with chairs and cots by Royal Bottania.