When it comes to color, plenty of people talk a good game. But chances are, few kick neutrals to the curb quite like Francesca and Federica Fossa. Several years ago, Federica bought a vacation home and asked her architect sister to help her re-envision it. The two had worked together previously, so collaborating was a piece of cake. And the results of their teamwork are downright delectable.
Not far from the waterfront and the Place des Lices – site of the lively, twice-weekly open-air market – Federica’s home spreads over two floors in an old house typical of this corner of France. When she found the place, it was divided into an apartment above with two separate studio spaces on the ground floor. Today, the lower level comprises an entrance hall and two bedrooms, each with a bath. A newly installed circular staircase links these with the living room, kitchen and a third bedroom upstairs.
In refreshing the property, the sisters were determined to respect its inherent charm, retaining the masonry, plaster, windows and other details that give the place its robust character. “Wanting to maintain the spirit of the house, I called on interior designers Mario Paolo Sturlese and Luca Dematheis, who did all the painted surfaces, as well as the mirrored furniture in the entrance and the resins in the bathrooms,” explains Francesca. “They have a very particular sensibility for this type of work, and they managed to reveal the soul of the house.”
Shopping together, Francesca and Federica furnished the home with finds from French and Italian flea markets and frequented small galleries and design shops for art and accessories. A sideboard came from a Genoese junkyard. Two colorful, 18th-century panels depicting berries and birds – purchased at a market in Liguria – once adorned a Tuscan country house. The brass coffee table, on which Federica displays Italian ceramics of the 1950s, came from the Ritz in Paris. The art in the home ranges from drawings their mother made when she was 15 to work by the 20th-century artist Albino Galvano and a relief in white stucco by the contemporary French artist Philippe Valentin.
From the rugs to the warmly painted walls, and from the wildly patterned fabric on an easy chair to a paisley bedspread, the home is practically ablaze with color. While far from funky, this residence exudes an all-enveloping bohemian vibe. Insouciant and good-natured, like that amusing friend who lacks a filter but never goes too far, it is a welcoming place infused with an energy that makes one smile.
The Bloomsbury-meets-the-Riveria dining room vibrates with its bright Persian carpet, vintage chairs covered in green upholstery and electric-hued Galvano paintings. The kitchen is practically psychedelic, thanks to the extravagantly applied Casablanca wallpaper from Designers Guild. Even Federica’s housewares – dishes, plates, platters and candlesticks – are playfully vivid.
While far from funky, this residence exudes an all-enveloping bohemian vibe. Insouciant and good-natured, like that amusing friend who lacks a filter but never goes too far, it is a welcoming place infused with an energy that makes one smile.
Photography by Fabio Lombrici.
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