Casa RF Forges a Rustic Poolside Retreat in Salve’s Olive Hills
Casa RF anchors a new country house in Salve, Italy, where the Ionian breeze meets dry-stone walls. Designed by Valentina Soncini, the home reimagines the traditional Liama Salentina as a calm retreat for an owner who returns south whenever she can. Earthy interiors, a pool edged in local stone, and a pergola aimed toward sunset turn this rural plot of former olive fields into an easygoing Mediterranean escape.
Late afternoon light washes the white volume of Casa RF, flattening shadows along the tufo blocks and the limewash. Beyond the pergola, the Ionian horizon pulls the eye past rosemary and stone.
The house is a new country retreat in Salve, Italy, designed by Valentina Soncini as a contemporary reading of the local Liama Salentina. A simple profile and pale exterior ground the building in its rural setting, while the interior leans into color, texture, and crafted furniture. Everyday life unfolds between shaded porch, vaulted living room, and a pool framed by dry-stone walls.
Inside, the focus turns to how rooms feel as much as how they function. Earth-toned paints, restored wooden pieces, handmade lighting, and garden scents work together to give each room a distinct mood.
Rural Shell, Local Bones
From a distance, Casa RF reads as a compact white volume set into the upper slope of the ridge. The exterior keeps to the archetype of the Liama Salentina with its sloping walls, pared-back openings, and tufo blocks washed in lime. A deep front terrace steps down to wild grass and aromatic planting, softening the edge between built form and former olive grove. Overhead, a pergola strung with cane slats filters hard southern light into a warm, shifting pattern.
Vaulted Heart Of The House
Beyond light-blue shutters, the main living room stretches under a stone barrel vault that arcs from wall to wall. The ceiling’s texture and warm color bring a cave-like intimacy while leaving plenty of height for air and movement. Midcentury wooden cabinets, woven chairs, and a patterned rug sit easily beside a simple TV, giving the room a collected character rather than a staged composition. Double doors align with the terrace so that interior and porch work as one long, breezy volume.
Color Blocking Daily Life
In the kitchen and dining area, painted planes organize daily routines. A soft yellow end wall cradles the compact white kitchen, scattering reflected light over ceramic objects lined along the window. Nearby, a turquoise table with red metal chairs sets a precise, almost playful note against neutral floors and stone. Vintage sideboards, patterned curtains, and small artworks introduce gradual layers, so each corner holds a slightly different rhythm without feeling busy.
Bedrooms And Bath In Earth Tones
The bedrooms stay quietly composed, using repetition rather than excess. Wrought-iron headboards painted sage green stand against recessed white walls, flanked by small wooden nightstands and framed botanical prints. Lamps with warm shades cast tight pools of light, letting the crisp white bedding read as a calm field. In the bathroom, terracotta-colored walls and joinery wrap around a pale stone basin and simple rain shower, creating a single chromatic envelope that feels grounded and tactile.
Outdoor Rooms Around The Pool
Outside, everyday life shifts to the terrace and pool. A solid stone dining table sits under the cane pergola, surrounded by lightweight metal chairs and woven pendant lamps that glow after dark. The pool beyond is edged in pietra leccese and held by dry-stone walls, so the turquoise water rests comfortably within low shrubs and olive trees. From a pair of lounge chairs at the far edge, the white house becomes a quiet backdrop to sky, water, and late-summer heat.
By evening, the limewashed walls catch the last light while the interior colors fall deeper and richer. Casa RF stays modest in outline yet generous in texture, giving its owner a grounded place to return to above the red earth and the distant Ionian line.
Photography by marco lugli
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