Which is the most sought-after destination in Italy? Ask Madonna, Justin Timberlake, or Gerard Depardieu, and they all will give you the same answer: Salento. Within a few years it has become the Italian California with, its dream beaches, manor farms, and old villages surrounded by olive trees. The ‘heel of the boot’ is the flagship of the most beautiful region in the world, as the National Geographic named it.
Here in the hilly heart of the south of Puglia, in the outskirts of Brindisi, is a holiday house in the country that seems to emanate the same dazzling light that makes this area unique.
Casa Pinto, that is its name, is an oasis of peace protected by century-old olive trees - a pleasant mirage in the parched and pristine surrounding landscape. Designed by three young architects from Studio Insite, the house adds on and transforms a pre-existing edifice from the 1950s keeping intact the façade, typical of the area.
To the original unit were added two volumes for the bedrooms and the kitchen. The structure has acquired the shape of a horseshoe with at its centre the swimming pool, reminiscent of a Roman implivium – a quadrangular pool delimitated by the house’s walls.
The blinding white walls are in Trani stone, as are the exterior floors, with the exception of the wooden covering that runs around the pool.
The house is made of solid and compact blocks, with their geometric rigour and neat lines. They feature breaches with different heights and sizes: long and thin windows looking like piano keys and wide reflecting glass walls catching the blue of the swimming pool.
The interior finishes have the same minimalist touch, resin floor, rough plaster, no colours, and essential furniture. After all, if you found yourself immersed in such an intense natural light and in the greenery, only steps away from the sea, what would you need more?
