A home between the park and the sea

The setting is extraordinary. We are on a promontory near the town of Recco, on the high cliffs of the Ligurian Riviera that drop sheerly to the sea between Genoa and Portofino. Here, a synergy between four firms – Gosplan and Giordano Hadamik Architects for architecture, caarpa for landscape, and Studio.skey for interiors – has led to the redevelopment of a fragmented and disparate 20th-century property into a coherent 750-square-meter residence. While the original structure lacked any features of particular merit, it was immersed in a magnificent 5,000-square-meter park overlooking the sea. This is also one of the few areas undamaged by the bombings of World War II, which led to the complete destruction of Recco’s town center and the loss of the church of the 15th-century Franciscan convent from which the Bay of the Friars (Baia dei Frati), which the home overlooks, takes its name.

“The building is not exemplary from a formal standpoint, but it reveals a great spatial richness and an absolutely remarkable relationship with the park,” explain Gosplan and Giordano Hadamik Architects. “The park, like many Ligurian gardens, is characterized by wide terraces, and the villa was designed to enjoy an outlet to the garden on every level. The new design chose not to impose a singular formal gesture on this layered landscape, but rather to define the residence starting from the landscape itself. The result is a process of organic recomposition, where the architecture allows itself to be guided by the terrain, the pathways, the light, and the powerful presence of the sea, adopting a quiet yet deeply rooted character. The architectural project took shape in close synergy with caarpa Landscape Architecture, which, from the earliest stages, defined the landscape plan as the matrix for the entire intervention.”

Caarpa designed sinuous pathways for the terraced park, juxtaposing local stone with Botticino marble – a material also used in the reconstruction of Recco. This marble also defines the magnificent disappearing pool, which features a complex mechanical system that allows the depth to be varied, changing the water’s color, and can even transform the pool into a spacious terrace, creating a seamless extension of the loggia in front of the villa’s living room. The park also hosts a boat house and a small private spa, housed within a dry-stone volume that evokes the traditional structures found in Ligurian gardens.

Custom oak furnishings, tactile materials, natural finishes, and a palette centered on neutral colors are the source of the intimate and relaxing atmosphere of the interiors, designed by the London-based Studio.skey. The spatial focal point is the living room, with its expansive windows and a remarkable 5-meter height, further expanded by a large loggia. To enhance the continuity with the outdoor spaces, the Botticino marble reappears indoors, as does the natural lime plaster that characterizes the facades. The project is enriched by pieces from Flexform, Cassina, B&B Italia, and Ceccotti, and artworks selected from contemporary art galleries like Francis Gallery and Galerie Philia.