Houzz Tours
Italy Houzz Tour: An Apartment With (Almost) No Internal Doors
This architect's home was designed to change with its owners. For now, it's set up for maximum light and connection
Architect Ada Catapano, her husband, Maurizio, and their six-year-old son, Theo, live in a 17th-century building overlooking the rooftops of Naples in Italy. Renovated in 2016, their apartment offers a stunning view of the city and the Quartieri Spagnoli (Spanish Neighbourhoods) district – a vibrant and bustling grid of narrow, perpendicular alleys filled with historical buildings.
To allow light and air to flow through the flat, it was designed with as few internal doors as possible, turning the bedrooms into secluded niches rather than independent spaces. The goal of creating an airy family home was certainly realised.
To allow light and air to flow through the flat, it was designed with as few internal doors as possible, turning the bedrooms into secluded niches rather than independent spaces. The goal of creating an airy family home was certainly realised.
Entering the apartment, wooden furniture immediately catches the eye, illuminated by the light that floods the apartment through its many windows.
Theo’s room is just visible through the shelving on the right of this image of the entrance. Like the main bedroom, this room has no door, which allows light to filter through to the entrance and hallway. On the left, a window frame and shutters from the original interior were used to create a wardrobe.
Theo’s room is just visible through the shelving on the right of this image of the entrance. Like the main bedroom, this room has no door, which allows light to filter through to the entrance and hallway. On the left, a window frame and shutters from the original interior were used to create a wardrobe.
The furniture in the nursery is simple and pared down to the essentials. It changes constantly as Theo grows. Ada made the decal with Theo’s name out of pallet boards for his first birthday. The yellow drawing is his own work.
The framed pictures here are from a calendar from the year of Theo’s birth. Simple decor ideas such as these can be seen throughout the flat.
The hanging wool tapestry was a gift from a friend from Colombia.
The hanging wool tapestry was a gift from a friend from Colombia.
The only door in the flat leads from the entrance to the walk-in wardrobe, which then leads in to one of the two bathrooms.
Above the bathtub hangs a storage unit that can be reached by ladder or, according to the architect, by standing on the edge of the tub.
Pictured on the left of this photo, Ada made the pendant light herself, “out of an old milk-glass lampshade from Ikea, a textile cable from Creative Cables and a beech wall bracket (left over from the original kitchen benchtop),” she says.
Above the bathtub hangs a storage unit that can be reached by ladder or, according to the architect, by standing on the edge of the tub.
Pictured on the left of this photo, Ada made the pendant light herself, “out of an old milk-glass lampshade from Ikea, a textile cable from Creative Cables and a beech wall bracket (left over from the original kitchen benchtop),” she says.
Located in the innermost part of the bathroom are the toilet, bidet and basin, which rests on a bechtop “custom-made out of BauBuche, a laminated veneer composed of three-millimetre-thick sheets of beech wood,” says Ada. The collection of Linus magazines on the wall is Maurizio’s.
Continuing on from the entrance, the main bedroom is on the left. The glass door that’s just visible in the photo, on the other side of the bed, leads to the alfresco terrace.
This room doesn’t have a door either – just a light grey linen curtain. “Clearly, this compromises personal privacy, but the layout was designed in such a way as to create spaces that are well-defined, sometimes just through differences in height, and which can be hidden from view with curtains. There is still the possibility of partitioning with sliding walls and glass doors, which we are planning to do now that our son is getting older,” says Ada.
“I like the idea that our home is never finished, that it is an organism that grows with its inhabitants: some things in it are temporary and others are still ‘missing’, because maybe the right object has yet to be found or it exists but it’s over our budget.”
This room doesn’t have a door either – just a light grey linen curtain. “Clearly, this compromises personal privacy, but the layout was designed in such a way as to create spaces that are well-defined, sometimes just through differences in height, and which can be hidden from view with curtains. There is still the possibility of partitioning with sliding walls and glass doors, which we are planning to do now that our son is getting older,” says Ada.
“I like the idea that our home is never finished, that it is an organism that grows with its inhabitants: some things in it are temporary and others are still ‘missing’, because maybe the right object has yet to be found or it exists but it’s over our budget.”
The main bedroom has an ensuite bathroom, which can be accessed through the shower.
“The shower tray is handmade and consists of a resin base and a removable panel of teak slats, all of which are custom made. Even the glass partitions are hand-crafted, made of non-slip Madras panels, whose rough finish echoes the stoneware tiles inside the rest of the bathroom.”
“The shower tray is handmade and consists of a resin base and a removable panel of teak slats, all of which are custom made. Even the glass partitions are hand-crafted, made of non-slip Madras panels, whose rough finish echoes the stoneware tiles inside the rest of the bathroom.”
The vanity in the bathroom is made of an old Singer sewing machine base. Both this and the mirror were restored by the architect’s father.
The majolica tiles on the left of the wall were recovered from the entrance hall.
The paint in both bathrooms is enamel.
The majolica tiles on the left of the wall were recovered from the entrance hall.
The paint in both bathrooms is enamel.
Next on from the entrance is the spacious, high-ceilinged, open-plan kitchen, dining and living room, which leads to the terrace.
The kitchen is modified from an Ikea model. Ada bought the pulls online from a store in England. The benchtop is a beech laminate, which was cut to measure before Ada painted it.
“Painting it was not an easy task because it is a particular type of wood, so it took a lot of time and several attempts to find the right paint mix. It would have been better to hire a specialist, but we were coming to the end of both the work and our budget.”
“Painting it was not an easy task because it is a particular type of wood, so it took a lot of time and several attempts to find the right paint mix. It would have been better to hire a specialist, but we were coming to the end of both the work and our budget.”
The wooden display cabinet comes from one of Maurizio’s previous homes. The pendant lights are ceramic.
The sofa also comes from a previous home and has been reupholstered. The bookshelves were purchased in a local shop selling vintage items. “They fit perfectly into our space: two of the four modules are shallower and fit behind the staircase. One unit stands at the entrance,” she says.
The iron-and-wood stairs, made by blacksmith Ciro Pepe and carpenter Carlo Calabró – who also made the desk and the wardrobe in the entrance hall – lead to the architect’s study-workshop in the mezzanine. This year, due to the pandemic, Ada shared the working space with her husband.
Ada also works in the fashion industry, and this area doubles as her workshop. “[My office] has always been off limits to my son for a number of reasons: not only is there no railing, but there are also scissors, sharp tools and a sewing machine.”
Instead of a typical glass balustrade, she plans to install a full-height net, like those used by acrobats, to make the space safer while still letting light through.
Instead of a typical glass balustrade, she plans to install a full-height net, like those used by acrobats, to make the space safer while still letting light through.
There is also a small relaxation corner. The beam above it has been put to use as display storage.
Browse more home offices for inspiration
Browse more home offices for inspiration
There is no television in the flat, “but there is a projector on the ceiling facing the wall in front of the sofa. As a result, the wall is white and a little bare. We went for this light fixture precisely because we needed a decorative object that can be moved easily when we want to watch something,” she says.
The windows were very important to the concept, and expensive due to their size – the floor-to-ceiling window is four metres tall.
The windows were very important to the concept, and expensive due to their size – the floor-to-ceiling window is four metres tall.
The living room leads to the renovated outdoor terrace. Ada put in a new waterproofing membrane and a new floor, and repainted the railings and moved them to the outside of the pillars. The composition includes an array of terracotta pots and glass bricks – Ada plans to expand the collection in future.
“The room on the terrace was formerly a guest bathroom. It was present on the original cadastral plans [land title], but I wanted to get rid of it at first. Then I realised it would be an opportunity for the kitchen and a way to arrange the long terrace better, as several different spaces,” she says.
There is a more functional section of the terrace behind the verandah and under the bedroom windows. “This is how the industrial-looking verandah was born, made with an aluminium window frame by Metra and combined with the same iron beams found in the other fixtures in the apartment,” says Ada. The shutters are also made of aluminium.
Your turn
Which aspects of this apartment do you like the most? Tell us in the Comments below, like this story, save the images and join the conversation.
More
See more great global design here with this USA Houzz Tour: Modern Farmhouse Style for a Casual Lakeside Home
There is a more functional section of the terrace behind the verandah and under the bedroom windows. “This is how the industrial-looking verandah was born, made with an aluminium window frame by Metra and combined with the same iron beams found in the other fixtures in the apartment,” says Ada. The shutters are also made of aluminium.
Your turn
Which aspects of this apartment do you like the most? Tell us in the Comments below, like this story, save the images and join the conversation.
More
See more great global design here with this USA Houzz Tour: Modern Farmhouse Style for a Casual Lakeside Home
Apartment at a Glance
Who lives here: Architect Ada Catapano with her husband, Maurizio, and their six-year-old son, Theo
Location: Naples, Italy
Architect: Ada Catapano in collaboration with architect Danilo Iacone, who contributed some aspects of the design, and managed the site and planning permissions.
Size: 83 square metres – including two bedrooms and two bathrooms – along with a 10-square-metre mezzanine