Only a ten-minute walk from Milan’s famous Duomo in the Italian city’s bustling centre, architect and sculptor Vincenzo de Cotiis and his wife, Claudia Rose, have created a peaceful, elegant oasis.
Behind the 18th-century palazzo’s discreet gates, a sweeping mahogany stairwell ascends to this stately second-floor apartment. Its grandly proportioned rooms are graced with high ceilings, rich parquet floors and an abundance of natural light, thanks to vast original windows.
Vincenzo’s signature aesthetic, which has a raw-yet-sumptuous quality, is clearly on show here, as is his love of modern art. Since the couple moved in three years ago, they have altered the apartment seasonally, adding new artworks or furniture. While Vincenzo made no structural changes, he recalls the poor decorative state in which he and his wife found their new home when they bought it.
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‘We spent a lot of time very carefully peeling away years of paint and wallpaper, false ceilings and ugly moquette floor coverings. What was hidden beneath, in a wonderfully imperfect, worn state, was far more incredible. Mostly, I wanted to preserve the history and positive atmosphere that already existed here. The idea was to maintain its character by uncovering the original paint colours, the ceiling and especially the light. I then worked out what elements needed my contemporary interventions.’
Now, the home’s gracefully crumbling plaster walls and gently vaulted ceilings with original mouldings are revealed in an evocative state of disrepair. The effect is warm and inviting; it feels lived-in but luxurious – a trademark style for the designer, whose work reflects his love of surface texture and organic forms.
The interiors have been treated with innovative decorating devices, such as deep brass skirting boards that reflect sunlight upwards to create a golden glow, and resin-topped floors that add shine to the bedroom, library and dining room. The effect of the glossy, reflective resin is dramatic and original.
‘It’s like capsizing the ceiling and creating a fresco on the floor,’ explains Vincenzo. Proof that luxury doesn’t have to be pristine, this apartment’s charm lies as much in its unpolished details as its modern touches. It’s an idea that’s close to Vincenzo’s heart: ‘I love disorder,’ he says, ‘but a calculated, curated disorder, which creates its own sense of order.’ decotiis.it
This article first appeared in ELLE Decoration September 2018
