Contemporary 4-Bedroom Villa with Pool and Sea-View Roof Terrace near Ostuni

This villa was designed around one idea, which runs through every choice in the project: living fully open to the landscape, with nothing in between, in 2.5 hectares of centuries-old olive grove in the countryside of Carovigno, a few minutes’ drive from the sea. In as-new condition and sold almost fully furnished, it works equally well as a home for year-round living in Puglia or as a place where family and friends can come and stay.

Four volumes built from blocks of local stone, laid using traditional techniques, hold the bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchen; these are the sheltered parts of the house, where thick walls give a real sense of protection. Above them stretches a single large white roof which, sitting over the house like a lid, ties the building together and defines its outline without more walls taking over the land, while also covering 183 m² of veranda. Beneath it, between the stone volumes, floor-to-ceiling glass slides back until it all but disappears, so the living area opens onto the olive trees with no real threshold and the garden becomes, quite literally, another room.

There are 264 m² (about 2,840 sq ft) of interior floor space and 375 m² gross in total. All four bedrooms are doubles, each with its own travertine bathroom and a stone vaulted ceiling that makes it feel quieter and more enclosed than the open living space; one of them has its own entrance from outside, which suits guests or family members who like their independence. The house is completed by the kitchen, a guest bathroom, a pantry and a large storeroom with laundry, which keeps everything needed for day-to-day running out of the living spaces.

In the shade of the roof, the veranda looks onto a pool lined in red travertine, whose colour blends so closely with the earth it was dug from that it seems to have found its own place among the olive trees. From here a light spiral staircase climbs to the roof, where you can have an aperitivo at sunset while the sea appears through the branches. There’s also an outdoor shower, handy after the beach or a swim.

The villa is air-conditioned and heated by a heat pump, which also supplies hot water, and has central vacuum, double glazing, an alarm, CCTV and an electric gate. It is also self-sufficient for water: an artesian well with a storage cistern supplies the house and garden, while a separate cistern is kept for drinking water.

Carovigno town is about 3 minutes away and the beaches of Specchiolla and Santa Sabina under 10, while Ostuni and Torre Guaceto nature reserve are around 15. Brindisi airport is 25 minutes by car and Bari airport about an hour, and the Itria Valley, with Cisternino and Martina Franca, is 25 to 35 minutes away. The way stone, glass and olive grove work together is best understood by walking through the house: viewings can be arranged on request.