Rooms
ROOM #Bresson
The iron beds, recovered from the attic of the family Villa, required a long and patient restoration: thanks to my sister Claudia who, with her talent, has given new life to the painted lunettes.
Adriano, my architect father, designed the wardrobe and the Kinderheim, the box that houses a collection of vintage Kinder eggs surprises.
The rhino is a masterpiece of arte povera, bought in Zimbabwe; it’s a little bruised because my nephews have been playing with it for years.
RATE
Euro 150 per night and per room, including breakfast with locally sourced products; the tourist tax is 1 euro per person per night.
Signature loom-woven towels have been created for la Serra by Guri I Zi. The project, started in the Albanian town of the same name to enhance local textile craftsmanship, now employs 53 women. The toiletries, in collaboration with the nearby Farmacia Dolomiti, are produced by Unifarco: a Belluno company that supplies the major Italian and European pharmacies.
ROOM #Minerva
The room overlooks a large terrace designed in the early twentieth century by my grandfather Alberto, also an architect, when he created the conservatory.
I am particularly fond of the simple beds, as they belonged to my parents and come from their Belluno home.
I bought the armchair at a flea market and upholstered it with Campiello, a fabric made by Rubelli; the slightly risqué photo on the desk, itself a family piece, comes from a stall in Palermo.
RATE
Euro 150 per night and per room, including breakfast with locally sourced products; the tourist tax is 1 euro per person per night.
Signature loom-woven towels have been created for la Serra by Guri I Zi. The project, started in the Albanian town of the same name to enhance local textile craftsmanship, now employs 53 women. The toiletries, in collaboration with the nearby Farmacia Dolomiti, are produced by Unifarco: a Belluno company that supplies the major Italian and European pharmacies.
Common spaces
KITCHEN-DINING AREA
The furniture from my Milanese flat, designed by my father, has found a new home at la Serra.
The extendable table is a prototype that he had designed for an exam. Cassina’s “Carlotta” armchair sits in front of the Stube and is my cat Minerva’s favourite spot.
The big armchair comes from a Paris market: after years in a classic black-and-white zebra print, it has found a new style with Osborne & Little’s “Serengeti” fabric.
LIVING ROOM
The place of honor is occupied by the great, plush armchair. It was my maternal grandmother’s favorite: when I “met” it for the first time it was dark green, then with my parents it became yellow, until it reached its latest upgrade to Rubelli’s sumptuous “Manin” upholstery.
The table and the Liberty display cases also come from my grandparents’ dining room. I have re-upholstered the chairs – to the great disdain of my mother: “They had always been white!” – with Rattoppato and Punteggiato, designed by Giò Ponti for Rubelli. Mom then changed her mind.
I bought the carpet that is on the wall in Beirut. The plaster head on the column is the portrait of Tomaso Buzzi, architect and friend of grandfather Alberto – as was Giò Ponti.
THE CONSERVATORY
With its 5 windows overlooking the garden and the fireplace, this is the relaxation area par excellence and also a great alternative to the dining room for breakfast or a cup of tea.
THE CONSERVATORY
With its 5 windows overlooking the garden and the fireplace, this is the relaxation area par excellence and also a great alternative to the dining room for breakfast or a cup of tea.
THE ANNEX
At the end of summer 2021, a new space blossomed in the Serra. Former barn and agricultural warehouse, already originally connected to what has become the house, it has been transformed into a relaxation area for guests. At the same time cinema room and shala for practicing yoga, it is dedicated to two great passions that have accompanied me for many years.
The restoration, again by the family architects, maintains the dialogue between pre-existing elements (such as the beautiful beams) and contemporary interventions, which characterizes the main building. The ground floor is divided between laundry, independent entrance to the annex and small bathroom. The staircase leads to a large double-height room, where the fun begins.
On the ground floor the grit floor cites the Serra’s Dolomia stone, with which it is made. For the first floor, another local material was chosen, the Cansiglio beech, which comes from the great forest which (also) was used to build Venice. To better enjoy the films on the 88-inch screen, four Sacco armchairs by Zanotta; yoginis have mats, blocks and straps available.
A steep ladder leads to the mezzanine, with the panoramic balcony overlooking the room.
Breakfast
RISE AND SHINE
Proverbs are (almost) always right: starting well gives a turn even to the grayest day, makes everything lighter and brighter.
Breakfast is my favorite moment and on trips around the world I have tried some memorable ones.
Unexpected – hot soup, vodka and meat on the spit -, luxurious (ah, the silver coffeepot of a Parisian hotel), gargantuan, with a choice and an abundance to make your head spin.
In any case, it is always an experience to be repeated and offered to a guest, even if in a more traditional version.
At any rate, there is no vodka first thing in the morning at la Serra, but the best products that the area offers, often with virtually zero food miles (absolute 0 for the jams, made with the fruits from the garden). Butter and cheeses from the Frontin dairy (less than 200 meters from home), cheese from cows that go to pasture of the San Damiano Agricultural Cooperative, and goats from the Schirata. The yogurt I have chosen, after long and pleasant tasting sessions, is that of the Agordino Cooperative, the juices are those, organic, are from La Giasena. Cookies and sweet focaccias (also organic) are cooked in the Deola wood oven. But everyday brings something good.
The Borough
La Serra is located in the historic heart of Frontin, a handful of houses in the middle of the countryside. As per the tradition, everything revolves around the eighteenth-century Villa. The Villa does not stand out for its monumental architecture but for its color, which is typical Venetian. The yellow of the Villa façade compliments the bright red of the Red House (once used as a shelter for horses and carriages) in the nearby square – which la Serra also overlooks – and of the Casetta Rossa. Despite its elegant appearance, which could suggest a chapel, the latter was a cabinet-making workshop-turned children’s playroom.
The curved facade of la Serra, with its terrace and large windows, was built in the early twentieth century by grandfather Alberto, an architect, to house lemons and oleanders during the winter. At the back of la Serra there is the large common courtyard, with houses, barns and stables.
The stables once were home to cows and sheep, today the only guests are the swallows, which return every spring.