A house facing the sea: the renovation of an apartment in a village on the Ligurian Riviera
There’s a spot on the western Ligurian coast where the houses huddle close together, colourful and low, all facing the same direction: the sea. It’s here, in a fishing village, that the renovation of an apartment for an Italian family’s holidays takes shape. The wish was for an apartment that would capture this suspended sense of time, yet with a more complete character than that of a typical holiday home, without giving up on the quality of its spaces and details. Not a “seaside style” in the most obvious sense, but a dialogue between the informality of holidays and a classic, measured elegance, capable of lasting beyond the season. The project, signed by architect Emanuele Rosso of RE Design Studio in collaboration with Zenucchi Design Code, brings to life a simple yet precise idea: letting the sea into the living room, as light, as colour, as breath.
Bright interiors, natural materials and bespoke furniture
The apartment unfolds on a single level, organised to orient its main rooms towards the view. The white of the walls builds a bright, quiet base, over which blue returns like an echo, evoking the water without ever becoming too literal. In the living room, the Gervasoni sofa, armchair and pouf, upholstered in a soft, enveloping linen, welcome the body with the same ease as the breeze from the open windows: sitting here, you can hear the sea before you even see it. On the walls, the boiserie introduces the touch of classic elegance the family was looking for, a detail that elevates the space without weighing it down. Compact as it is, the apartment gives up nothing, thanks to bespoke solutions designed for a holiday home: integrated wardrobes and a clever use of the space beneath the stairs become tidy storage for everything a family brings along in summer, keeping nothing on show and the rooms essential and visually light. The kitchen island doesn’t seek the spotlight, but offers itself as a gathering place for shared dinners, discreet and functional. Above, the terrace becomes an open-air solarium, the house’s final breath towards sky and water. The result is a house that doesn’t chase the sea: it hosts it, and lets it inhabit every room.
