Residence in Cortina Reveals Textured Stone Craft for Alpine Living
Residence in Cortina transforms a historic hay barn into a contemporary chalet in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, under the guidance of architect Ambra Piccin. The project leans on Antolini natural stone, hand-worked spruce, and aged iron to root alpine living in a rich material palette that respects the barn’s original character. Across three compact levels, wide mountain views and robust finishes turn daily routines into a tactile, landscape-linked experience.
Light skims across textured stone and honeyed spruce as mountain peaks fill the windows. Inside, the former hay barn reads as both shelter and belvedere, held together by a disciplined material rhythm.
This chalet conversion in Cortina d’Ampezzo is shaped by Ambra Piccin with a clear brief: keep the barn’s soul while giving contemporary alpine living real material depth. The project focuses on how stone, wood, and iron work together across three levels, letting Antolini’s Quarzite Nera and Grey Roots marble structure both atmosphere and daily routines. Craft, not ornament, carries the story.
Reassembling The Alpine Barn
The old hay barn beside Villa Sello is taken apart and rebuilt, beam by beam, to preserve its authentic timber skeleton. That structural patience sets the tone for everything that follows, from the exposed spruce frame to the way new interventions sit quietly against the historic shell without visual noise. Original character stays legible, while precise surveying and installation allow large stone slabs to slip into an attic level with pitched ceilings.
On all three floors, hand-worked spruce forms a warm envelope, its grain catching daylight that pours through newly generous openings. Aged iron accents thread through rails, hardware, and details, giving depth without glare. The result feels robust yet measured, where each material carries weight rather than decoration.
Stone Setting The Tone
Antolini natural stone acts as the project’s backbone rather than a surface afterthought. Quarzite Nera, from the Exclusive Collection, anchors key points: the kitchen countertop in a LETHER finish and the fireplace front in a HARD ROCK finish from the TEXTURES+ line. Deep relief on the firebox front pulls light and shadow into play, so the hearth reads almost like a carved landscape.
Selection happens directly at Antolini’s Verona headquarters, where slabs are compared against real spruce samples. Sabrina Soldà looks not for exact chromatic matches but for visual continuity that lets rooms feel calm and cohesive. Dark quartzite, with its subtle white shadings, stands against wood and iron, giving the living level a grounded center tied to the mountain silhouettes outside.
Bathrooms With Layered Texture
Grey Roots marble from the Natural Stone Collection shapes the bathrooms as quiet, tactile chambers. A LETHER finish wraps the walls, while a HYDRO finish from the TEXTURES+ Collection defines the shower tray with a different, water-tuned grip. One room, two related stone treatments.
Veining is tuned to echo the tonal warmth of local wood, so transitions between bedroom boards, thresholds, and wet rooms land without abrupt breaks. Overhead, the pitched roof and its timber lines keep these intimate rooms tied back to the barn’s structure, while the composed marble tonality introduces a different kind of calm. Light lands softly on the leathered surfaces and glances off the more animated shower base.
Living With Peaks And Hearth
In the main living area, large windows frame the Tofana, Becco di Mezzodì, Faloria, and Cristallo peaks like a rotating panorama. This level becomes a daily lookout, where the mountains are as present as any interior element. The kitchen island clad in Quarzite Nera and the textured fireplace front stand as two anchors, balancing the openness of the glazing with a sense of weight.
Social rooms revolve around that stone hearth, its rougher HARD ROCK finish catching firelight and forming a strong visual pause against the softer spruce surfaces. Stone, wood, and iron each have a clear role: one grounds, one warms, one sharpens edges. Together they shape a setting that can absorb alpine light, evening gatherings, and seasonal shifts without losing clarity.
Craft, Coordination, And Process
Behind the calm rooms lies an unusually coordinated process. Sabrina Soldà spends a full day among slabs and samples, testing pairings until the right visual rhythm emerges between stone and timber. Marble & Granite Service, a Verona-based stone contractor, steers technical decisions on sourcing, cutting, and installing large-format pieces in tight rooflines.
Close dialogue between designers, supplier, and fabricator lets each slab sit precisely where its veining and texture matter most. That shared commitment keeps the material story legible from arrival sequence to attic rooms, from the robust fireplace base to the more refined bathroom surfaces.
By the time daylight fades behind the Dolomites, the chalet reads as a composed material narrative rather than a simple barn conversion. Peaks, stone, and timber hold a continuous conversation. Residents move between outlooks and quieter rooms, always brushing against surfaces that feel considered and enduring.
Photography by Diego Gaspari Bandion
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