In the heart of Florence’s Santa Croce district, DEFERRARI+MODESTI has completed the renovation and interior design of Casa GZ, a ground-floor apartment in a nineteenth-century building transformed into a bright, eclectic and contemporary home for a young family.
The building stands beside the former monastery of San Francesco de’ Macci, founded by the Poor Clares in 1349, in an area still defined by a strong sense of history and an intimate atmosphere. The house overlooks what is now the Borgo Allegri garden, once the monastery’s vegetable garden, and shares a long internal wall with the historic complex. This wall is punctuated by original load-bearing columns in pietra serena that extend throughout the apartment.
This physical and material connection with the building’s history became one of the project’s starting points. The existing pietra serena columns suggested that the apartment might preserve further traces of its past. A series of exploratory tests, carried out with the support of a conservator, revealed frescoes dating from different periods. One of these was restored and left visible in the children’s bedroom, becoming a discreet yet central presence in the narrative of the house.
The project explored the balance between preservation and transformation, enhancing the existing historical traces without confining the interiors to an exclusively historical dimension. The aim was to create a lively home capable of accommodating the everyday life of a family with two daughters while expressing the complexity and many layers of the site.
The renovation involved every aspect of the apartment, from the reorganisation of its internal layout and the selection of finishes to the design of bespoke furniture and the choice of contemporary pieces, vintage furnishings, family objects and artworks. The rooms were conceived as a bright and carefully balanced setting for a rich palette, varied materials and decorative details, together creating a highly personal domestic landscape.
The new layout was primarily designed to bring the living spaces closer to the garden and establish greater fluidity between the different areas of the house. The living room, dining room and kitchen now open towards the exterior, while the parents’ suite has been organised as a more intimate and secluded space, complete with a private bathroom and walk-in wardrobe.
The internal garden is an integral part of the project. Conceived as a sheltered space for quiet moments and outdoor living, it is furnished with seating and plants and offers glimpses of the bell tower of Santa Croce. A burgundy pergola with a reed canopy marks the transition between inside and outside, turning the garden into a natural extension of the home.
Inside, the living room was conceived as a space for socialising and entertaining, as well as for working from home. A large bespoke unit extends along one wall, accommodating books, objects and family memories, together with a fully concealed home-office station. The furniture therefore becomes both a functional and narrative device, organising the space while gathering together the traces of everyday life.
Colour becomes more prominent in the dining room and kitchen. The owner, who works in the fashion industry, followed the project with great care and curiosity, contributing to the definition of an intense and sophisticated palette. Textures, surfaces and colours come together in an eclectic interior, where chevron parquet flooring is paired with rugs designed by Fortunato Depero and Gio Ponti, selected to characterise the living area and principal bedroom.
The family’s personal history also enters the project through its objects. Originally from the Veneto region, the owner brought several Murano glass chandeliers into the house, which are now displayed in the dining room, principal bedroom and bathrooms. Both decorative and deeply personal, these pieces introduce reflections, transparency and family memories into the interiors.
The principal bathroom is one of the project’s most distinctive spaces. The floor design draws inspiration from the marble inlays of Florence Cathedral: a marble “carpet” guides the eye towards a sculptural lacquered-wood washbasin topped with red cement. The shower is concealed behind an ochre curtain, becoming an almost theatrical element, while yellow travertine flooring heightens the room’s material quality.
The principal bedroom is introduced by an ochre-coloured portal set within a bespoke panelled wardrobe. This element creates an architectural threshold between the shared areas and the more private part of the house, marking the entrance to the bedroom with a gesture that is both restrained and theatrical.
In the daughters’ bedroom, the restoration of the original fresco revealed decorative fragments belonging to the building’s long history. The room thus becomes the place where the past enters most visibly into everyday family life—not as a museum exhibit, but as a natural and domestic presence.
The furniture selection balances iconic vintage pieces, contemporary designs, bespoke elements and objects discovered at flea markets. Chairs by Achille Castiglioni, vintage kitchen lights, family furnishings and decorative objects coexist in a harmonious composition that brings together different styles, periods and origins.
Art also plays a significant role in shaping the identity of the house. The collection emerged from research into young artists from Livorno and Florentine designers and includes works by Duccio Maria Gambi. These are complemented by objects and details connected to Florence’s manufacturing tradition, including Gucci wallpapers and Richard Ginori ceramics, further enriching the narrative of the interiors.
Casa GZ brings together rigour and freedom, memory and contemporary life. Shaped by historical traces, colour, bespoke furniture, artworks and meaningful objects, it is a home designed to inhabit one of Florence’s most authentic and layered neighbourhoods with lightness and awareness.
Team:
Project designers: DEFERRARI+MODESTI
Photos: Anna Positano and Gaia Cambiaggi | Studio Campo
