house with olive tree
Type: New build
Info: Country villa
Year: 2020
Location: Chirignago (VE)
Client: Private
Photo: Andrea Ceriani
In Chirignago, in the Venetian countryside, a detached villa delicately blends into the agricultural landscape of the plain. The project stems from the client's desire - a collector of oriental rugs - to retreat to a quiet place, far from the hustle and bustle of the city, surrounded only by cultivated land and silence.
The house sits on a 1,500-square-meter lot, within a large cornfield. Inspired by traditional rural architecture, the project unfolds on a single level - with the exception of a small underground cellar and a mezzanine - with a west-east orientation, reminiscent of historic farm buildings in the area.
The main volume has a double-pitched roof and is lightened by functional voids: two porticos (to the south and west), a patio to the north, and an entrance canopy. Each opening is designed to create visual glimpses of the landscape and to ensure seasonal climate comfort: the south portico opens onto the ever-changing view of the field, while the west portico accompanies the driveway.
Inside, the house is understated, materially balanced: closed-joint travertine in the living area, continuing into the porches; herringbone oak in the bedrooms and mezzanine; warm slate in the cellar. The design choices interact with the light and furnishings, the true silent protagonists: oriental rugs, a fireplace set in 19th-century cast iron, and a large monolithic wooden table on glass bases.
The living room—the heart of the home—opens to the south and north, creating two complementary outdoor spaces: one open, lost in the greenery, and a more intimate one, enclosed around a central olive tree in the patio. The exposed concrete walls, marked by OSB formwork, bring in the echoes of the construction site.
The internal layout is linear: bathrooms to the north, living spaces to the south. The sleeping area extends to the east, with bedrooms and bathrooms overlooking the porch and courtyard. The mezzanine overlooking the living room becomes a bright refuge for the client, thanks to the flush-to-the-wall skylights.
