Casa Soleto – a minimal vacation home in Puglia

Studio Andrew Trotter is a multi-disciplinary office working on international projects from architecture and interior design to product design and design consultancy. With simplicity at the heart of its ideas and a true belief that any design should belong to the place where it is built, works such as Masseria Moroseta and Villa Cardo quickly became icons within the Pugliese landscape. Today one of their latest projects: Casa Soleto in the heart of Solento,Puglia. A beautiful ‘palazzotto’ lovingly restored by Studio Andrew Trotter and Marcelo Martínez

Casa Soleto

I came across the home several times over the last weeks through press releases from Frama and Zara Home, who collaborated with the designers or used the location for its new collections. But mostly I got really curious about it through the Instagram account of Michael Stark: @lui-trova which quickly became one of my favourites to follow on Instagram.

The studio took time with the renovation and carefully preserved the historic features of the house, while bringing it into the twenty-first century. Having kept most of the original floors, the nonna’s (grandma’s) kitchen or the internal doors (two of them being 300 years old), Casa Soleto has all the charm and character you would expect of a house from the seventeenth century.

Frama furniture

Part of the furniture and interior was selected in collaboration with Frama. A selection of seating items, tables, tableware, home goods, mirrors, the classic shelf library system, soft goods, and the entire St. Paul’s Apothecary self-care collection, giving a modern yet simple touch to the palazzo.

Parts of the house were over 400 years old. None of the walls were straight. In the past, the
room behind the kitchen was a chapel, so the family living within the palazzo didn’t need to leave the house to pray. The entire space was a labyrinth. To access the bedrooms, one had to go through the front patio and up the outside staircase—an old house’s charm as I remember from the old house of the grandmother of my children.

The renovation

Old school bathroom fittings were included, internal doors were restored, and artisan woodworkers from Lecce recreated exterior doors. The flooring was saved wherever possible, as well as the kitchen. The walls are beautifully plastered, smooth to the touch, yet full of texture. Colors played a central role as some make spaces feel light, others moody.

Beautiful jute rugs from Armadillo & Co. gave a touch of softness to the hard floors. Local artisans made linen upholstery and curtains. Unique pieces of antique furniture like an XVIII century walnut dining table were salvaged from a monastery in Abruzzo, and a late XVIII/ early XIX century red wardrobe was sourced from Lombardy.