Design firm: Margine
Project name: Masseria Caronte
Location: Vernole, Lecce, Italy
Dimensions: 500 sqm

Set among the olive groves of the Salento countryside, the studio has restored and repurposed this former rural dwelling—once used for sheep farming and wool production—bringing back the raw charm of its industrial past while reestablishing the clarity of its original layout. The core of the complex is a Lecce-stone structure comprising three vaulted rooms overlooking an enclosed quadrangular courtyard, to which various later additions had been attached over time. By carefully reinterpreting the site and its layered history, the designers adopted a subtractive approach. Through the selective removal of finishes and makeshift roofing, along with the “camouflaging” of incongruous structures, the original stone envelopes were recovered and the interiors reorganized around three newly introduced elements: the entrance counter, the hearth, and a partition screening the anteroom to the restroom. These three features are made of tuff stone and finished with a limewash, deliberately highlighting the contemporary intervention against the historic fabric.