Palazzo Nianu

Great Old Bones Brought Back to Life

Tucked between the village church and town square of Neviano, this weathered Italian palace has been artfully refurbished as a tribute to the passing of time. Puglian architect Alessandro Venneri and renowned Barcelona-based architect Georg Kayser, an AD Magazine Top 100 winner, approached the faded palace with a guiding design maxim: to do as little as possible and only as much as needed to create a comfortable home that tells a story. 

Today, the handmade and historical merge in a soothingly spare and peacefully pastel home topped by a panoramic roof terrace with an intimate dipping pool and alfresco dining area.

Georg Kayser and Alessandro Venneri felt the good energy that remained inside the once regal, lately abandoned Palazzo Nianu. They knew that with a little love and an architectural approach that began from a place of admiration more than a need for renovation, this Puglian classic could once again become a gently luxurious place to unwind and recharge.

The palace’s ancient patina still reigns. A soothing, serene home, this is a place where aging walls have been preserved, updated only by custom furnishings and handmade bedding, restorative polishes and expanded openings where natural light can filter into the otherwise spare, pastel-hued rooms. Original doors have been rehung, with their delicate ancient locks restored. Vaulted ceilings still show their original paint and plaster. And ancient cocciopesto floors remain cool underfoot, their smooth natural surfaces only lightly refinished and topped by natural fiber rugs.

Kayser and Venneri did add a few new touches to the home’s solid old bones, notably in the contemporary kitchen and adjacent outdoor breakfast nook, and on top of the building, where they transformed the palace’s rooftop into a panoramic terrace. Vistas from the roof deck include the surrounding valley, and one section of the terrace offers a direct view onto Neviano’s historic, domed church. The roof terrace is divided into several living and lounging areas and occupies multiple levels. The largest space in the palace, there’s room up top for sunbathing and dining, swimming and lounging, morning yoga and evening aperitifs around a small, contained fire pit.

Around

This villa for rent in Puglia is located in Neviano, a small hilltop village in the Salento area. The town is located about 15 minutes drive from Gallipoli and about a half hour from Lecce by car. Neviano itself is a village of about 5,500 residents and local services. Gallipoli, with its historical center, is accessible by a 16th-century bridge. Known as the pearl of Salento, the island village features numerous stretches of white sand beaches all along the Ionian sea, and is famed for its ancient castle and harbor. 

Nearby Lecce is known in Italy as the “Florence of the South". A university town, it is lively and packed with bars, restaurants and boutiques, and offers a beautiful walled center, densely packed with noble buildings dating from the Baroque era all the way back to Roman times. Neviano is strategically set in Italy’s slim boot heel, between the Ionian and Adriatic seas, each offering gorgeous swimming beaches, charming fishing villages, and cheerful seaside taverns.

Location

Neviano, Salento, Puglia, Italy. Nearest airport: Brindisi

Best time to visit

Visit this villa for rent in Puglia year-round, with best temperatures from June to September.