Cucina | Italian Lakeside Villa | Lake Maggiore
Cucina | Italian Lakeside Villa | Lake Maggiore
An Italian kitchen shaped by British craft
On the shores of Lake Maggiore, Italy, this villa was built in the early 20th century for long summers and slow weekends of la dolce far niente. Our client, who spends family time here, wanted a bespoke kitchen that felt as though it had always been part of the house: a true cucina, steeped in Italian spirit, yet shaped by meticulous British craftsmanship.
Pocket doors slide silently into the wall, opening the kitchen to the garden and the glittering water beyond. Within, open shelving waits for produce from the morning market, and cabinetry is devoted to drinks and conviviality. Every element was planned to invite company: a luxury Italian kitchen designed to gather in, to cook side by side, and to enjoy the simple abundance of a summer table.
Designing a kitchen as part of the architecture
The architecture was recalibrated to a precise centreline, walls moved and openings shifted so that sightlines now flow directly to the lake. We call this creating a “room within a room”: the joinery conceived not as furniture, but as part of the architecture.
From there, we began to layer echoes of the villa’s exterior. Stucco details became cornice profiles; arched window heads informed the floating partition; even the diamond panels of the external doors found their way into the cabinetry. The overlay construction – a distinctly European method where door and drawer fronts sit proud of the frame – lets every hinge, moulding and panel edge speak. Practical as well as beautiful, it allows for the shifting humidity of the lakeside climate.
Working with Italian artisans, we advised on the terrazzo floor with its mosaic florets and on the frescoed trompe-l’œil ceiling, so the room is as rooted in local craft as it is in Artichoke’s Somerset workshops.
Cabinetry at the heart of the cucina
At the centre of the plan stands the island, part workhorse, part stage for hosting. A hand-hammered brass sink at one end, with a dense chopping block anchoring the other. The revolving recessed door – running smoothly on ball bearings – opens to reveal a brass chute that drops peelings directly into the bin below, a quiet piece of theatre.
The tall arched dresser was created as a pantry and drinks station. Here glassware gleams behind glazed doors, Sub-Zero refrigeration stands ready, and a dedicated knock-box drawer swallows spent coffee grounds with a satisfying tap. Between dresser and island, the floating partition acts as both divider and display: hooks for hanging prosciutto, curved oak racks for fruit and vegetables, glass shelves for bottles, and a Carrara pass-through for slicing and serving directly to the table.
Everywhere, the materials tell their story. Handmade Delft tiles, painted with floral motifs, climb the walls and cooker canopy. Carrara marble – chosen in an honest, grey-toned grade to gain patina with time – forms the carved fluted sink, upstands and shelves for condiments and oils. Cabinetry is finished in a gentle blue-grey with darker accents, while its sea-green melamine interiors offer both durability and a nostalgic nod to Italian kitchens of the past.
A kitchen made for hosting
This is a kitchen made for company. Sub-Zero wine storage and refrigeration preserve the best of the local market. Two dishwashers wait quietly for the aftermath of a long lunch. A restored La Canche range stands ready for shared cooking, crowned with a Perrin & Rowe pot-filler tap. And then there is the Wessamat ice machine – discreet, efficient, endlessly useful – keeping glasses cold through afternoons of spritzes and evenings of Negronis.
Around these modern luxuries, hand-wrought detail provides warmth. The shelf supports, forged in Cumbria by one of Britain’s few female blacksmiths, carry not just the weight of bottles and jars but a story of craft. Their spiral fretwork recalls the Juliette balconies outside; the rails in front hold items safe, their ends hammered and “upset” in the traditional way. Each touch brings human character into the room, balancing refinement with the everyday poetry of use.
A space to endure
This Lake Maggiore kitchen is as much about atmosphere as it is about architecture. It is the sightline that draws you through to the lake, the chill of the marble sink under running water, the rhythm of glasses lifted from the dresser, the sound of a knife against the chopping block. It is a room conceived for a family who love to host, and made to feel that it has always belonged.
Unmistakably Italian in spirit and unmistakably Artichoke in its making, it embodies our philosophy: to create luxury kitchens that serve their houses and their people with quiet authority, crafted to endure for generations.
- Photography Paul Whitbread
- Video High Water Films
