“Twenty steps and you’re at the sea”. Paolo Leone knows this house well, just as he knows theStromboli Island. He frequented it, immortalized it, lived it in summer and winter. Born in Catania in 1962, a fashion photographer with a passion for design and a degree in architecture in his drawer: «This was my only project, I followed the entire renovation and also made the custom kitchen. It is rented by word of mouthbut there will be a website soon,” he says.
One hundred and fifty square meters on several levels and another two hundred and fifty of terraces on the cave where, according to Greek mythology, Aeolus chose to stay to guard the winds. In the middle of the Mediterranean, with the volcano behind him. «The external structure has remained the same, only painted. Inside it has been completely renovated. Here you have to deal with theunpredictability of mother natureshe is the one in charge. Only the local workers know exactly where and how to get their hands on it. The results were excellent, the house is still in perfect condition after years”. No invasive interventions but a transformation in style and soul. Lots of white, splashes of blue. The colors don’t change, like the current does around here. “It’s all very simple on purpose,” he emphasizes.
Each room has its own bathroom where lava stone and Caltagirone ceramics chase each other like waves. No air conditioning, to combat the heat the ceiling fans flutter overhead like dragonflies, while for the coldest days the wood stove is the ideal solution. Essential choices and a free spirit with particular attention to the quality of materials resistant to the mistralto humidity and saltiness such as teak and aluminum. The furniture is few, Italian and Swedish classics designed by Tobia Scarpa and Bruno Mathsson, just to name a few, or contemporary ones designed by Jasper Morrison, Marcel Wanders and the Bouroullec brothers.
There is no shortage of art. A large wooden goldfish, a sculpture by Alexander Calder, splashes among the books. The luxury is in the windows that frame the horizon, in the hammocks on the patio between Tamarix and Bougainvillea where you can wait for the moon or watch the infinite at the mercy of your thoughts. Wonderful views that we find on the walls. Some are depicted in small paintings by Jurgen Wegner, a solitary German painter who moved to Stromboli and died years ago at sea with his windsurfing board. He was a ‘pincisanti’, as they call those who paint on glass in these parts: «It’s typical of the area. Every house has at least one».
The tributes to the island there are countless. The original posters of Rossellini’s film, the poster of a Danish whiskey and that of a French ice cream, old maps of the navy and advertising posters from the 70s of the Touring Club, all things that in some way, by name or by graphics, refer to Stromboli. “They were discovered and accumulated over time, the search lasted years. The table is an old reel of electrical cables recovered, while the bamboo canes covering the terrace is characteristic of the Aeolian Islands.” Hanging on the wall are the Photographs by Paoloamong these a triptych of the sky and a shot of Strombolicchio, the sea stack with an active lighthouse today powered by solar energy: «It is in the only room where the sea is less visible because of the plants».
Paolo knows every corner of the island. He has been there since he was a boy, he worked there for some Vogue articles and he filmed the documentary Pietre Parlanti, a tribute to those who, despite not being born there, have chosen to live there. He was also there in December 2002 when a tsunami caused by a huge landslide due to an eruption triggered the evacuation plan: «TheWe call the volcano around here Iddu, him. He is lively, always alive. You see him and you feel him under your feet. He is a constant presence, he keeps you company. Let’s say he talks a lot, it’s when he is quiet that you have to worry.”
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