Sardinia’s Shell-Shaped Villa Draws on Wind, Stone and Sea

By Grace Kim

Federica Gosio’s shell-shaped, whitewashed villa overlooks Porto Rafael Bay on Sardinia’s northern coast, with pointed arches, Orosei marble floors and a panoramic pool.

Gosio leads the firm bearing her name and is also a cofounder of Studio MILO. She called the house “an arch over the sea.”

Porto Rafael is a remote, scenic area on the island’s northern shore. The rounded home follows the land toward the water and takes the profile of a seashell.

A house shaped by wind and land

She described “the truly unique aspect of this home is its ability to adapt to its surroundings, the sea, and nature.” The design has no single guiding principle, and this adaptability also characterizes many of her projects.

“The aim is to give shape to ever-changing realities, integrating it with strength and grace into a larger context,” she said. The villa starts with its rugged site and pays homage to the setting through its form.

Owner Alessandra Radaelli worked with Gosio on the organic, sculptural retreat. “We decided to honor the design legacy of Rafael Neville,” she said, referring to the founder of Porto Rafael.

That choice meant “favoring a harmonious approach in which architecture blends with the landscape.” Radaelli’s stated intent joined the villa’s pointed arches, organic geometries and natural materials to the island’s earth and sea.

“The minimalist spaces were designed to embrace the sunlight, the wind, and the slow rhythm of island life,” Gosio explains. “It’s a project that interprets the Mediterranean in a contemporary way through a refined balance of memory, nature, and design.”

The villa’s apparent erosion serves a deliberate purpose. Its soft curves and rounded edges smooth the changes among its volumes, as though the powerful winter Mistral had shaped the building.

The Mistral sweeps across Sardinia in winter and reshapes the landscape. Gosio translated that force into a house without straight lines, with a softer silhouette both inside and out.

Both inside and out, the villa’s whitewashed structure follows the land’s contours. Textured surfaces and carefully placed rocks extend that softened geometry toward the entrance.

Her team made the pointed arch the house’s signature element. The form appears in the villa’s doors and hallways.

At the entrance, a hand-brushed iron arched door continues the tactile palette. “The soft volumes, textured surfaces, and carefully placed rocks guide the visitor toward the entrance with its hand-brushed, iron arched door, custom-designed by Daniele Mingardo,” Gosio said.

What does the design change for daily life by the sea?

It makes exposure part of the house’s daily rhythm. Gosio’s minimalist rooms embrace sunlight and wind, while the slow pace of island life supplies the practical tempo.

Light, wind and the land’s contours remain part of the house’s organization. Radaelli’s stated goal of harmonious blending therefore shapes daily use, not only the project’s appearance.

Stone, rattan and island craft

White walls establish the interior’s restrained palette. Orosei marble covers the floors with a bush-hammered finish and “broken edges.”

Gosio tied the restrained palette to the island’s soil. She singled out “The white walls, the floors in Orosei marble with a bush hammered finish and ‘broken edges,’” alongside “the organically shaped furnishings.” Together, they create “a measured and well-proportioned design, inspired by the neutral and warm tones of the soil here.”

Orosei stone comes from the coast of Sardinia. Gosio used it beyond the floors, forming both indoor and outdoor sinks to extend the island material through the house.

Vintage rattan pieces add a lighter texture to the rooms. Sardinia-based creative design practice Pretziada and its artisans supplied the sculptural creations.

A landscape route to the water

Acres of lush Mediterranean vegetation surround the villa and descend toward the sea. The route passes green terraces and outdoor social spaces.

The panoramic pool and outdoor kitchen form part of the home’s larger relationship with the surrounding terrain. This route carries the architecture from the iron entrance to the planted shoreline.

The house carries Rafael Neville’s design legacy into a contemporary coastal home. Its lasting success will depend on the same forces that shaped its form: wind, light, local stone and the slow habits of island life.