Eight years ago, Charlotte and Simone Pittella moved into a house originally built by Simone’s late father in 1984, placing their own definitive hallmark on it.
With a young and growing family, the couple realised there wasn’t a need to change the original footprint of the home, so began from scratch with an interior revamp. With a distinctive aesthetic and a carefully-honed eye for detail, Charlotte and Simone collaborated to create an interior they describe as ‘Milan meets LA Modernist’.
Texture, tone and pattern all meld together to manifest in an arresting, yet inherently relaxing and functional family home. “We took a few risks with things like the colour of the kitchen and the wallpaper on the ceiling of the dining room,” says Charlotte. “We wanted it to feel like it’s a resort at home.”
Sharing a love of great design and craftsmanship that is also reflective of Simone’s Italian heritage and his eponymously named Pittella business, the finished home inevitably became a showcase for the Italian furniture and other objects the couple have collected together including Minotti, B&B, Arflex and Mooi.
A love of colour is also reflected throughout the house, from the blue Marenco sofa designed by Mario Marenco for Arflex to the orange Ligne Roset Togo lounge and the kitchen where distinctive pale blue cabinetry is topped with an off-white Corian benchtop and trough-sized sink with kitchen swivel tap from the TURA Collection by Pittella.
A Mooi dining table is surrounded by B&B Italia Husk Armchairs designed by Patricia Urquiola that the couple first sat on and fell in love with while staying at the Urquiola-designed Hotel Il Sereno in Lake Como. The wallpaper featured on the dining ceiling was designed by Charlotte, inspired by an image she’d seen in their travels and the vintage Italian Sputnik light fitting was procured by Capocchi Collingwood in Melbourne.
“We took a few risks with things like the colour of the kitchen and the wallpaper on the ceiling of the dining room, we wanted it to feel like it’s a resort at home.”
– Charlotte Pittella
The Tura Swivel Kitchen Mixer by Pittella in natural brass provides a luxurious touchpoint in the kitchen.
The large painting is by Melbourne contemporary artist Kerry Armstrong who was commissioned by the couple after a chance meeting. “The brief was big and bold,” says Simone who invited the artist to their home to get a feel for the space first.
The custom-made wallpaper of a mural made to scale, that features in the entrance hallway was discovered on a trip to Milan providing a backdrop to the Double Zero chair designed by David Adjaye for Moroso, while the palm print wallpaper in the guest room was handmade by a local artisan in Como Italy and imported.
A pool was added and tiled with Bisazza mosaic tiles, with burnished concrete surrounds by Melbourne’s Hungry Wolf Studio.
If the devil really is in the detail, the style and essence reflected in Charlotte and Simone’s noteworthy home is testament to this.
An oversized painting, saturated in block colour by artist Brad Teodoruk builds a bright foundation for two sculptural pieces. On the mirrored plinths sits a piece by artist Sean Meilak and a pink folded sculpture by Anya Pesce.
