Located in Lido di Venezia, an Adriatic barrier island located just outside of central Venice, Italy, occupies a property bordered closely by many others. As such, very careful attention is paid to the privacy of those living within, and a number of solutions were devised to keep neighbors’ eyes out without closing the homeowners in. Designed by Jacopo Mascheroni Architecture, the soft white home is centered around its impressive outdoor space, bordered on all four sides by a sight barrier. This allows the residents to enjoy the seaside air and sunlight of an outdoor deck at all times of day, in complete and serene isolation. The roof and walls of the home extend beyond its most exposed, glass-walled portions, protecting the inward view from the sides and top while also creating convenient frames for outdoor spaces, while slatted covers do the same job for the remaining windows. Once inside the property, however, openness and airiness rule the day, guided by the principles of minimalism.
Both inside and out, white is the dominant color of this dwelling’s architecture and decor, and simple linear forms provide most of its shapes. The public space of the house is a single room with a rectangular profile, divided into three sections for living, dining, and preparing food. Only a few furnishings and tile patterns are finished in a color other than white, most notably in the sitting room and bathroom. The combination of simplicity in both shape and color help to make this house bright, serene, and luxurious.
The house’s rooms are built in an L-shaped plan, hugging a large rectangular piece of property which contains a pool, recreational outdoor spaces, and two tasteful garden plots. Because of proximity to other properties, walls of varying height surround the yard on every edge, and the interior walls of the home are either set back into a frame or covered in a way which obscures the view of neighbors.
At the inward edge of the lawn, an impressive roof overhang defines the floorspace boundaries of a covered patio area, complete with four outdoor chairs which mirror the styles of the living room furniture just beyond a glass wall.
This taller wall stretches along one of the pool’s long edges, with thin bedroom windows hidden behind its metal slats. Unlike the glass-walled public spaces, the private areas of the home are quite isolated from prying eyes.
A large patio area outside the profile of the home’s overhanging roof hosts poolside lounging chairs and two beautiful, minimal gardens with stone-pile surroundings. While there is no traditional grass area or elevated deck outside, natural and man-made recreation spaces are built right into the lot’s overall architecture.
Linear sections are very important to the overall architecture and landscape design of this residence, using symmetry and lines to draw borders both inside and out. A thin black line at the pool’s edge continues inward to create a cutoff of window space all the way at the front of the house, framing the kitchen.
At night, the light from a variety of sources keeps the rear patio area entirely useable for swimming, hosting, or simply relaxing. The pool is entirely lit, a row of bulbs is mounted under the deck’s ceiling overhang, and additional brightness comes from interior windows which overlook the property.
The home’s front entrance is simply a more compact version of its rear facade, even opening into the same room. One glass wall section is removed and replaced with a traditional finish and a low perpendicular wall, and the placement of stone gardens on this side of the building create a pathway to an intentionally off-center front door.
The first portion of the house encountered upon walking inside is a long room which houses a living area, kitchen, and casual dining space. The sitting portion of the room is set apart by a variety of beige and greyscale colors, as well as an area rug surrounding its furniture and softening the hard tile floors.
The focal point of the living area is a futuristic entertainment center, designed as a strikingly black stripe among walls of white. A television screen is integrated minimally into the black section, while open-faced display shelving mirrors its profile on the wall above. Further storage for electronic equipment is housed in a cabinet to the left side, out of the way to keep the room looking clean.
The front and rear walls of the living room are principally composed of floor-to-ceiling glass panels, which are supplemented by integrated rectangular columns to provide support for the oversized ceiling above.
The windows along the rear of the main public space contain small perpendicular wall sections which roughly define the bounds of three separate areas within the rectangular room. Two of these three sections have doors leading out onto the rear deck, allowing somebody to enter any portion of the room without disturbing activities in another portion.
Between the living room and kitchen, a three-sided multipurpose table provides a transition while also filling what would otherwise be empty space. The table and its matching chairs can be used as a study eating space.
At the other end of the room, a comfortably uncluttered kitchen plays host to cooking surfaces, storage, and a casual dining bar with three matching white seats. Beyond it, a dim hallway leads away to the house’s private bedrooms and bathrooms.
The interior of the home relies surprisingly little on sunlight. Instead, the cream-white tones of the decor and furniture accent and soften light from artificial sources, while massive overhangs at the front and rear of the house keep direct light from creating glare.
The dwelling’s public spaces are arranged in one rectangular section, with exits to the front and rear of its property on either side. With the exception of the kitchen area, all parts of this living space are fronted on both sides by window walls, with views toward the street and toward the lawn.
Storage is arranged in two sections, making up the overhead cupboards and one side wall of the kitchen. Small, finger-fitting indented rows are used in place of traditional handles to accentuate the minimalism of the home as a whole.
A bathroom inside the home makes use of darker, rougher tile patterns for its wall finish, a modified version of the flooring seen across all the abode’s public rooms. Around the edges of the ceiling, supplemental accent lighting gives a glow to the room without direct, harsh beams.
Jacopo Mascheroni Architecture
