Upper Engadine. A landscape of peaks of rock and snow, of lakes and dense forests surrounds one of the old Chese - in the Romansh language of the place means houses - which have dotted the area since the fifteenth century with their massive walls and their asymmetrical windows. Overlooking the lake, in the center of a clearing, this three-level chesa has become the holiday residence of a young family who use it all year round.

For this reason, with the renovation project entrusted to Dario Turani, he hasgained large spaces thanks to the modification of the internal plan, leaving the exteriors intact. "The most conspicuous intervention concerned the basement, where 500 square meters of boxes and technical rooms were created, as well as the swimming pool area, where large windows were opened that" bring in "the landscape", says the designer. The naturalistic echo is in the choice of all the furnishings and materials, starting with wood, which is the great protagonist of the decoration.

It starts from the entrance, where a rough axed fir paneling emphasizes the connecting function of the room. "Both the cut and the type of wood are for outdoor use, but I wanted the rustic character of the passageway to be clear here, where you arrive with your boots. So much so that the floor is in stone from the nearby Val di Fex worked in splits ».

The wooden casket is modulated according to the type of room: some of the walls of the living room are also in spruce, but the parquet is in heat-treated oak (from the Albino Pozzi di Colico company) and the wall in which the fireplace is inserted, made to measure, it is covered with a Wall & decò wall that depicts the orography of the Lepontine Alps. In the kitchen, the floor is in pieces of wood polished on site, while the design table and stools are made of apple wood, to have a tone and grain completely different from all the others and for a question of "poetic consistency" with the room. Sliding doors separate this more familiar environmentfrom the dining room, which opens onto the alpine landscape with its windows.

Here the oak floorboards are the same as that of the oval dining table, illuminated by a Florinda (Modo) suspension lamp designed by Annarosa Romano and Bruno Menegon. A local antique wardrobe completes the furnishings, designed and essential such as the score of the room, characterized by an "invisible" staircasewhich leads to the upper floor, where there are the five bedrooms (with as many bathrooms) and the playroom, a welcoming and relaxed environment where you can watch a movie, listen to music or chat. "The informality of the playroom is underlined by the" soft "furnishings, custom sofas made up of large cushions and cushions (Dedar) everywhere, covered in different fabrics," says Dario Turani.By placing the well-being of the inhabitants of the house at the center of his project, with whom every single detail was examined, the interior designer created essential and warm environments at the same time, thanks to the use of materials.

In the master bedroom, for example, behind the head of the bed (Ivano Redaelli) the wall was covered with large squares of cowhide, handcrafted by the upholsterer Spinelli di Arosio, who also lined the wardrobe internally and externally a damask fabric. Created from scratch in the basement, the pool is a 15 by 7 meter pool in Val di Fex stone whose brown reflections are enhanced by the presence of water and contained, on three sides, by walls of cement resin, and for the fourth by large windows open on the lake below, to give the impression of a seamless landscape. The ceiling is made of stained pine slats, reminiscent of those of Finnish saunas. Solitaire, a Catellani & Smith customized lamp illuminates the environment like a full moon. Or a private sun.