This neoclassical São Paulo home feels both warm and grand

For this week’s installment of The Inside Story, Wallpaper* heads to a tree-lined neighbourhood in São Paulo, Brazil, to a home known as the CMK House. The house, designed by local firm Marina Salles Arquitetura e Interiores, is a masterclass in neoclassical architecture, with original design by Brazilian architect Marcos Tomanik. Salles has added contemporary decor while retaining a warm respect for the initial layout.

The result is tranquil and calming, with the integration of natural textures like linen, raw silk, leather, suede, wood and stone. The aim, however, was to balance this natural, neutral feel with distinctive design; this is not an interior that plays it safe. The entry hall, for instance, features a black-and-white chequered marble floor alongside its sand-toned walls. A suspended ‘Alva AP’ sideboard by Brazilian designers Marcelo Alvarenga and Susana Bastos also makes a statement.

In the living room, the ceramic vaulted ceilings, arched windows and preserved, reclaimed wood floor recall the heritage of the CMK House, but a clean aesthetic persists with the same sandy walls and a curated selection of furniture, artworks and decorative objects.

These include sofas from Dpot, an ‘Sertao’ side table by Gabriela Campos, a ‘Xibô’ lamp by Brazilian designer Sergio Rodrigues, ‘Benjamin’ armchairs (Rodrigues' final creation), a coffee table by Jacqueline Terpins, an ‘Infinito’ armchair by Lia Siqueira for Etel, and a natural-textured rug from Phenicia. Works by artists including Júlio Villani, Vik Muniz, Manabu Mabe and Hilal Sami Hilal adorn the walls, and a grand piano, a focal point for the musically inclined family that lives here, anchors the space.

Other quirky features include a wine cellar with indirect lighting in the dining room and a ceramic mosaic floor in the breakfast room, which is bathed in natural light. The dining table, which is custom-designed by Salles, features a rounded-edge top and is surrounded by ‘Beg’ chairs (also by Rodrigues) and presided over by a ‘Floatation’ pendant light by Ingo Maurer.

The library is a standout space, where existing cabinetry and boiserie panels were retained. Fireside, ‘Stella Alta’ armchairs from Rodrigues are the perfect place to curl up with a book, and we can think of few better places to work than the freijó-veneer desk, designed by Salles, in the adjacent office. Elsewhere, a former painting studio has been transformed into a music studio with navy acoustic linen panels, a striped Kilim rug and a cognac leather sofa.

Classical yet contemporary is not always an easy balance to strike, but Salles achieves it masterfully in this harmonious home, which feels at once like a country estate and a Mediterranean retreat.