You’ve heard the adage, go bold or go home, but what happens when the two aren’t mutually exclusive? Take the Sicilian home of Ilenia Pappalardo and Nicola Spata in the popular city of Ragusa. A former abandoned cobbler’s shop that the couple bought in 2018 before gutting and completely restoring, it is an ode to vibrant modernism that doesn’t so much put the humble tile into the spotlight, but makes it the all-singing, all-dancing star of the show.
It was a “dream come true” to realise, agree Pappalardo, 37, and Spata, 41, a dental hygienist and an accountant. They enlisted local architects Studio Gum, run by husband-and-wife team Valentina Giampiccolo and Giuseppe Minaldi, to mastermind the restoration.
