Villa Soranzo Penthouse
Inside a 16th-century villa overlooking the Riviera del Brenta—just steps away from the iconic Villa Pisani in Stra—a project comes to life that merges the charm of history with the sensibility of contemporary living.
The building, constructed in the second half of the 1500s by the noble Venetian Soranzo family and adorned with frescoes of mythological deities on its façade, now serves as a private residence.
The restoration of the ancient attic—now transformed into a penthouse—was carried out with great attention to the dialogue between past and present, creating contemporary spaces without erasing the memory of the place. Numerous openings on all four sides flood the interiors with natural light throughout the day, highlighting the contrast between historical solidity and the lightness of the new intervention.
At the heart of the home is a large open-plan space facing the river, where the living room, dining area, and kitchen coexist in a fluid, luminous dimension. On the opposite side, facing a large English-style garden, lies the sleeping area—more intimate and secluded. A central staircase leads to an open mezzanine that overlooks the entire volume: a hybrid space between relaxation and work, in direct dialogue with the dormer window on the main façade.
The choice of materials and furnishings helps define the interior’s identity: the seamless, neutral resin flooring contrasts with the dark wooden beam ceilings, while the perimeter walls preserve their original texture, revealed through careful plaster restoration. The partition walls, intentionally lower than the beams, allow the full spatiality of the attic to emerge, maintaining a sense of continuity.
The spaces are enriched by iconic design pieces and contemporary artworks: the Vitra Lounge Chair & Ottoman, Gaetano Pesce’s Serie Up armchair for B&B Italia, and Gae Aulenti’s Pipistrello lamps converse with paintings by Lorenzo Puglisi, whose emotionally charged works guide the viewer’s gaze.
The result is a home that weaves together different eras and architectural languages: the historical character of the villa blends with a contemporary vision of living, creating a luminous, elegant, and intimate retreat where memory and modernity, openness and privacy, coexist in harmony.
