Casa Refogliano

In December 2014 a Dutch family felt in love with an old olive grove near Piegaro, Umbria, overlooking Lake Trasimeno and Val di Chiana with Monte Cetona in the back. Together with Special Umbria they created a plan for their holiday home based upon a very clear and strict budget and timelines, as the house had to be ready before the Summer of 2016! The project started in March 2015 and end of April 2016 they enjoyed their first family holiday in their new house.

The design of Casa Refogliano was based upon a sketch by Rob in which the backside of the house had to look like a one level old barn. Architect Piero Sacco of Studio SPR in Tavernelle di Panicale worked on this idea and created a simple structure, with bedrooms on the upper entrance floor and an open space living/cooking area on the ground floor with direct access to the garden, overlooking the whole valley. The house perfectly fits in the slope of the hill, so it looks like it’s part of the natural lines of the surrounding nature. 

The house has been built with traditional materials like handmade cotto floors, beamed ceilings and handmade wooden windows and shutters. For the outside stone work of the house walls, stones were excavated from the rock on which the house has been built.

The Dutch owners, he a successful entrepreneur and she a judge, both in their forties, love modern Dutch and Scandinavian design. Since they also know some designers themselves, the interior design of this project has been a close collaboration with Specialumbria. The result became a light colorful house with space for 10 guests. Since the couple has three young kids, the handmade bunk bed in the middle room became a very important spot in this house for them.