A thorough refurbishment that has brought the Italian connection of its owners to Australia. Starting with the three-storey façade, distinguished by several arches, and ending inside, with the echoing of those curvilinear elements. Greg Natale, the designer responsible for the project, has thus fashioned a palace with contemporary features, capable of celebrating the Italian connection of the clients, who run an art school in Florence.
The home consists of five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, including a spa and Turkish bath, as well as social areas that overlook the River Brisbane. The velvety grey stucco arches, combined with black corrugated wood walls and Nero Marquina marble floors, evoke the refined and opulent ambience of an Italian palazzo. The patterns, the gold, copper and terracotta tones of the furniture and certain pieces of art add to the ambience that, for Greg Natale, sums up his “love letter to Italy.”
Although the major challenges of this renovation included the relocation of an internal lift, inserting a magnificent, winding staircase in its place; and the construction of high ceilings, as in the entrance hall, with its double-height ceiling, the dining room is the house’s showpiece. The drama of this dining space contains within itself “the clean, minimalist lines of the interior architecture with the maximalist aesthetic of luxurious finishes.”