Ancient Home, Vietnam

This antique family home that opens onto a traditional internal courtyard garden, which stands secluded in the historic village north of Hanoi, is a philological restoration signed by Massimiliano Locatelli, who wanted to leave the difference between the pre-existing buildings and the current interventions a visible sign. The house, slightly elevated, is accessed by steps covered in black terracotta, a shade that marks the current intervention, contrasting with the original floors. The kitchen wall is covered with a terracotta opus incertum work with a craquelé effect that refers to the decorative motifs of an ancient porcelain vase of the owners, telling the story of the village in the eighteenth century through images. The bathrooms are a genuine coup de théâtre, where remnants of the past – interpreted with today’s sensibility: the terracotta walls with a platinum finish are custom-made by Bat Trang artisans, while the stylized banana leaves echo those of the trees in the nearby courtyard.
The mansion is an astonishing encounter of past and future: furnishings and porcelain from the owners’ very rare collection of Vietnamese 18th and 19th-century dialogue with the furniture of Massimiliano Locatelli Editions designed ad hoc such as the Cai Ban collection, a uniquely refined transposition, in a marble version, of the popular plastic tables found everywhere in the Vietnamese bars. A genuine homage to a true landmark of the local culture.