This forward-thinking hilltop residence stands as proof that “sleek urban architecture” and “rural family farmhouse” don’t have to be mutually exclusive. The striking, brutalist-inspired concrete structure angles boldly across a verdant farmstead, its staggered volumes holding an ultra-contemporary family home of playful minimalism paired with serious eco-credentials. And inside the home is a separate three-bedroom guest apartment that's available for rent.

Guests can get a taste of this innovative, imaginative homestead with a stay in this separate, and private, apartment. Set opposite a bio-swimming pool with a neighboring steam room, the apartment has access to the farm’s expansive gardens and orchards for vegetable harvesting, cherry picking, and truffle hunting, plus cooking classes and yoga and meditation practices among other local, environmentally sensitive experiences on offer. It also has access to the all-season natural pool, with a movable floor that adjusts to the desired depth for any age (up to 150cm deep).

Creating this remarkable farmhouse started with a multicultural family’s dream of owning and operating an organic, regenerative family farm. Sounds simple enough, but their reinterpretation of this classic Piedmont farmstead turned out to be anything but ordinary. A next-level agricultural enclave designed by architect Luca Gandini, this boundary-breaking rural outpost dedicated to sustainability is a farmhouse for the future.

What began as an investment in authentic values and the desire to practice alternative agriculture in harmony with nature grew into a remarkable architectural dialogue between the built environment and the landscape, and ultimately led to the creation of a dreamscape for modern naturalists. 

Visually, the home has been celebrated (Archilovers Best Project 2020, finalist for the Plan Award 2020) and featured in design publications showcasing its series of strong, distinct volumes that cut across the topography of the land it occupies. Stark structures in brick and concrete cantilever across the green hillside in a nod to brutalism and modernism. The vivid geometric cubes and rectangles step across the slopes, coming together to create three residential stories containing the family home and guest apartment, as well as rooms dedicated to agricultural experimentation and entrepreneurialism. The volumes merge with each other and the landscape to create openings for outdoor terraces and the private pool deck, with unique corridors and stairwells both indoors and out.

Befitting the farmhouse’s futuristic design, interiors are sleek and spare, with exposed concrete and brick walls, wood flooring and timbered cathedral ceilings, ample glass openings in windows, doors, and skylights, and fun features including built-in furnishings, secret passageways, and lounging nets. A mural-lined exterior corridor showcases playful portraits of farm animals by artist Cristina Stoppa that appear as large-scale paintings framed by picture windows.

Gardens and greens sprout from the rooftops, and a solar field covering one roof generates enough power for the farm and the surrounding community. The farmhouse also features rain and wastewater collection systems, a unique bio-pool/catchment system, thermal and hydroponic heating and energy, and smart home appliances, with permaculture labs and a lemon house on site.

Find out more about the animal corridor in the guest apartment by visiting our Stories section here.

AROUND

Located in a little traveled valley in the pastoral woodlands of Gassino, this vacation home rental in Italy is built into a hillside on a seven-hectare lot an easy 30-minute drive (10km) from the heart of Torino. Rolling hills around the home give it a Tuscan feeling, but this area is more remote and rural, and valleys are blanketed by vineyards and grain plantations. Beautiful hilltop villages, including Sciolze, Rivalba, Cinzano, Cocconato, Murisegno and Moncalvo, are all worth a visit, many offering wine tasting rooms, restaurants and cafes, and hosting festivals such as truffle and honey celebrations. 

The UNESCO World Heritage area of Langhe, with its world famous Barolo and Barbaresco wines, is nearby, and biodynamic vintners are crafting wines in Montaldo and Montferrato. This is Italy, so food lovers will find their pleasures at local markets and farmstands, Piedmont's 45 Michelin-starred restaurants (27 of which are in Torino), and DIYers can enjoy cooking classes both at the farm and in nearby workshop locations. Outdoor recreation opportunities, from equitation to hiking and more intense Alpine trekking to cycling, mountain biking, skiing and other snowsports are abundant in the area, the gateway to the Italian, Swiss, and French Alps.

LOCATION

Piedmont, Italy. Nearest airport: Torino/Turin (25 mins); Milan (1½ hours)

BEST TIME TO VISIT: This vacation home rental in Italy is wonderful year round.