Published As:
Mountain Magic
Architecture and Interior Design: Sifola Sposato
Text: Erika Heet
Photography: Gianni Franchellucci
The Dolomites, part of the Southern Italian Alps, rise from the earth above deep verdant valleys in Northern Italy. It is here, within an alpine glen, that the firm Sifola Sposato, made up of Alberto Sifola and Vincenzo Sposato, imagined a modern house of steel, concrete, glass and reclaimed wood for a family, who mostly occupies the house on the “on” seasons: summer and winter. In the latter season, snow packs the far mountaintops and dusts the close peaks; and in summer, says the client, it glows pink.
To maximize these views, Sifola Sposato positioned the grand, double height living room where the vistas would be best appreciated, its walls of glass interrupted only by a modern iron fireplace from Focus that tempers the winter chill “in such a position as not to hide the magnificent view toward the valley and the Dolomite peaks,” says the owner, who was heavily involved in the planning with the architects, who also completed the interiors. Sifola Sposato designed the low sofas, made by Italpotrone, and brought in a coffee table made from an ancient Italian olive tree root by the artisan furniture maker Andreas Mayr Kondrak. Gio Ponti armchairs by Molteni round out the simple yet impactful living room, while a tall, stacked orb sculpture by Annie Morris balances in one corner, and sleek Bang & Olufsen speakers stand at the ready on either side of the fireplace for peak acoustics.
A wax-finished black steel staircase ascends from the living room to the mezzanine, where pieces from the owner’s extensive art collection—including works by Dan Perfect, Mario Shifano, Enrico Castellani, and even a Gianni Piacentino metal vehicle sculpture—come into focus as a sort of home gallery. The oak treads match the floors throughout the chalet, whose planks measure 15 feet long and two feet wide, and the walls are covered in ancient wood planks salvaged from carefully disassembled old chalets and stables. A more intimate living room on this level holds a purple and blue Aboudia painting, an Aron Demetz figural sculpture, and Matt Johnson’s Movie Money sculpture, which depicts millions of dollars in a gym bag, atop another Andreas Mayr Kondrak heavy wood table. Cassina armchairs and Knoll Barcelona stools join a custom sofa designed by the architects.
The artisanship continues in the media room, in which the comfort level is increased. The aptly named Alps rug from Minotti eases the winter chill, while a Riva 1920 stump table brings nature inside, and 1963 Gio Ponti Continuum chairs keep the design on high and “cozify” the mass of the room. Elsewhere, a wood-tread iron stair descends to the primary bedroom, its openness calmed by a Maxalto alcove bed, which creates a barrier between the sleeper and the outside world. A lovely, bright work by abstract painter Giuseppe Caprogrossi is really the only non-neutral color, and visually warms the room, along with the Focus fireplace, which resembles a midcentury modern spaceship hovering in midair.
A second bedroom, reached by a similar iron stair, includes an architectural classic, an Eames lounge chair and ottoman, placed near the custom bed and designed to view the sloping mountains and ski runs just beyond. In this room, the art is underfoot, in the form of a rug depicting a Piero Pizzi Cannella painting of a map bordered by midnight blue dots. But the true defining moment is the way in which this room, and the house at large, frames the mountains, where the majestic Dolomite peaks Piz da Pares (Pares Peak) and Punta Tre Dita (Three Fingers Point) mesmerize the family as they watch the world go by. Sifola Sposato, www.sifolasposato.it
