Trullo Svevo Reclaims Rural Trulli Living for A Modern Country Home
Trullo Svevo sits in the hills above Ostuni, Italy, where architect Francesco Consoli reanimates a traditional house with rare restraint. A cluster of dry-stone trulli regains daily purpose as calm rooms, while a new volume, modeled on a lamia, extends the domestic rhythm into the landscape. The project balances rural craft and present needs without noise.
About Trullo Svevo
Olive leaves cast speckled shade over whitewashed stone. Under the afternoon light, the trulli read as calm, thick-walled rooms gathered close to the earth.
This is a house in the countryside near Ostuni by Francesco Consoli, made of recovered trulli and a measured addition. The work centers on continuity between an agricultural past and present living: restore what holds value, add only what helps the day. Nothing shouts.
Reworking The Trulli
The original dry-stone cones return as compact rooms with durable, cool envelopes. Their thickness tempers heat and quiets sound, turning small thresholds into moments of pause. Limewashed surfaces brighten the interiors, so daylight slips across soft texture and reveals the grain of the stone joints.
Adding A Lamia
Beside the historic cluster, a new volume follows the low geometry of a lamia and keeps to the same material family. White lime plaster, local stone, and light wood keep the palette even, so old and new share one tone and one ground. The addition doesn’t compete — it reads as a natural continuation with similar scale and simple openings.
Living In The Garden
Outside, a Mediterranean garden folds around paths, courtyards, and shaded corners set for long meals. An outdoor kitchen with a patio anchors daily gatherings, while aromatic beds mark edges and lend fragrance to the breeze. The layout treats the countryside as the main room, with trees and stone guiding how one moves from door to table.
Light, Lime, Wood
Materials carry the quiet. Limewashed walls bounce warm light deeper into the rooms, and pale wood softens the touch points at doors and casework. Local stone stays underfoot and along low walls, its color tuned to the olives and the dry fields after harvest.
Thresholds And Shade
Small steps, deep jambs, and covered porches organize movement between inside and outside. Shade falls where it is needed, setting up cool pockets through the day and a gentle evening transition. Each crossing feels deliberate, yet the whole reads easy.
As the sun drops, walls hold the day’s heat and the garden keeps its scent. The house takes its measure from the land, and the land keeps the rhythm.
Photography by Studio Francesco Consoli
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