In a small Milanese suburb, lies a quiet masterpiece of Italian brutalism - the work of architect Francesco Castiglioni. Built as a substantial family home in the 1970s in the Cusano Milanino area, the 650 square metre residence is a generous, sculptural house that wears its concrete structure on its sleeve.
The garden facade
Tour this example of Italian brutalism
The surrounding residential area is given over to large villas around a public park, with Art Nouveau being the favoured architectural style. Castiglioni’s brutalist architecture stood out, then as now, not just for the raw concrete but for the way the four-bedroom house devotes the majority of its floor area to the living areas, including a monumental double-height sitting room.
The main living area
The exterior follows the more castellated, romantic vision of brutalism, with chimneys and cantilevers replacing ramparts and towers. The integral garage is reached via a driveway that goes through the house, terminating at a curved parking area away from the street.
A brutalist villa north of Milan
The living area is the focal point, with a sloping ceiling and dramatic ramp that leads to the upper floors with a galleried landing overlooking the space. A double-sided fireplace divides the space in two, while shifts in level to accommodate the topography of the site creates dynamics views across the living room.
Glazed walls bring the verdant gardens into the living area, while the roof oversails the edges of the house to create a covered walkway and terraces leading down into the 3,800 square metre garden. In the basement, there’s a substantial 20m heated swimming pool as well as utility spaces and storage. In addition to the four modest bedrooms, the villa comes with its own 70 square metre caretaker’s cottage.
Covered loggias surround the house
Covered loggias surround the house
Castiglioni was based in Como. His work on the house also extended to some of the furniture and fittings, as well as landscaping the garden. Owned by the same family that commissioned it, the house has recently been refurbished and updated ready for a new generation of architecture-loving ownership.
Villa by Francesco Castiglioni, Cusano Milanino, €3,000,000, Italy-SothebysRealty.com