Studio Peregalli creates interiors that reflect the history and the location of the home conjuring feelings partly from the past and partly from dreams.
One of the many things I love about Studio Peregalli’s work is their research. Before beginning a project, they consider the location of the home. The style of the area is the basis for the design while still allowing for input from other cultures. The pair sometimes create a fictional history of the house to provide a story from which to develop the concept. When designing a vacation house in Gibraltar for a young family they did just that. The story
“was the tale of a gentleman in the early twentieth century, who-tired of traveling-had bought a large piece of land (far bigger than the current one) and had a house built there. An Italian who loved seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Portuguese architecture, azulejos, and the Spanish architecture of Seville, Cordoba, and Granada, he wished to revive the memories of those journeys in his new home. Then, having become impoverished, he sold some of the land, keeping the house and the garden around it.”
This house in Gibraltar is one of ten featured in the firm’s second book, A Grand Tour. Each project is from a different location in the world photographed in a different month of the year.
Intimate photos, inspiration pictures, and an informative description gives the reader a glimpse into life lived at these homes.
A chalet in Saint Moritz was appropriately the feature for December.
The sgraffittio decoration seen on this exterior served as inspiration for the walls in the entry seen below.
This small wooden room in the landing of a castle in Canton Vaud inspired the treatment of wood in many areas of the chalet such as the stairway seen below.
Location, location, location.
A standard starting point for designing a house used to be its location. Now however when perusing real estate in Dallas, Houston, New York, Boston, or Los Angeles one can’t distinguish the location by looking at the interiors. These houses often look the same. Additionally, the exterior does not relate to the interior. A Tudor-style home will feature the same trendy furnishings and art as those in the Spanish-style house down the street.
Inspiration photos may feature surrounding architecture, painting techniques, tile work, ceiling details, or examples of paneling.
The top photo features a room with a tile wainscot and soft painted details above. It served as inspiration for the house in Gibraltar. The second photo shows one of the childrens’ bedrooms. The softly painted stripes on the wall echo the inspiration photo. Zellige tiles line the bathroom walls seen through the opened door.
Steadfastness.
Another characteristic of Studio Peregalli that stands out is their dedication. Good design requires loads of time, commitment, and conviction. In their words:
“Quality takes time, and this is not always understood. Today, the tendency is to obtain everything at once: beauty, success, money. People have forgotten patience, sacrifice, commitment, and constancy. Yet all the great works of the past that have come down to us had strong foundations, even if often hidden. It takes time to understand a place, to feel it. To be curious about the diversity of cultures, to make them our own. Only interpretation can initiate the process that leads to true invention.”
Their work is achieved by skilled Italian craftsmen spending hours of time requiring much expense. Consequently, most do not have the luxury of hiring Studio Peregalli. One can take inspiration, however, to create an interior for themselves based on their principles. Putting more craft and considered details into our homes leaves them better than how we found them and enhances our neighborhoods. Most importantly, life is so much more enjoyable when lived inside a thoughtfully designed home.
Casa V Interiors can create a home for you that reflects where and how you live.