Villa en Arenzano, Italia, 750 m²

The property is located on the hill of Arenzano in a private park, surrounded by beautiful ancient olive trees. The position is wonderful and ranges from east to west over the sea and the village of Arenzano. The villa, built in the years 1963-64, is a project by the famous architect and designer Marco Zanuso, and it is considered one of the most beautiful art works of his entire career. Refined example of the “red brick architecture”, a distinguishing mark of many of his works including the Piccolo Theater in Milan, the building has as its fulcrum one of the majestic millenary olive trees that surround the house. Zanuso built a large patio around it and developed the whole villa as if the tree was “an ideal psychological center of gravitation”. The structure follows the natural slope of the hill and integrates with the external space; the terraces, the water garden, the strips of olive trees are one with the building architecture.
The construction is spread over three levels, all connected to each other by beautifully designed internal stairs. Each level is also equipped with independent external access. The structure, the large surface and both the horizontally and vertically easy division facilitate an eventual division of the villa into two or more residential units. The current internal distribution includes the living area on the two upper floors and the sleeping area on the ground floor. On the upper floor, which has direct access from the street level, there is a studio overlooking a large terrace that sweeps over the sea and the surrounding greenery, with a hallway and a bathroom. The main floor has a very wide continuous space, which includes the double living room with a majestic fireplace, the dining room overlooking the water garden and a large custom kitchen with a wood oven. There is also an ample service area, with direct entrance from the outside, which includes two bedrooms, a bathroom and a laundry room.
The large French windows with refined design frames help create a continuity effect between exterior and interior with an exquisite balance of air, light, architecture. On the ground floor there are four en-suite bedrooms, each with a walk-in closet. The master bedroom, which has direct access to the garden, is covered with a wonderful vintage wallpaper by William Morris. A beautiful ample room with slate bookcases looks out onto the planted garden through a very large window. This sunny spot, surrounded by secular olive trees, is perfect for the creation of a large swimming pool.
Still lot of strips of land with olive trees, cedars of Lebanon and citrus fruits, gently slope down around the house.