Traditional hospitality combined with contemporary appeal

More than two hundred years have gone by since Goethe wrote «the Apennines are for me a wonderful piece of creation», in his famous book Italian Journey. It is a sentiment that remains true to this day. These regions, which are well worth exploring in any season of the year, are home to a significant portion of Italy’s biodiversity and are now being reappraised as part of the sustainable slow tourism movement. Located in the town of Riolunato, at the foot of Mount Cimone in the Modenese Apennines, the B&B La Torretta is run by a family with a long tradition in the hospitality industry. The property is inspired by traditional architecture, combining local materials with new solutions and creating warm and welcoming interiors with a contemporary feel. The B&B was conceived and built by the Rocchi family, starting with Adriano who first launched the project and subsequently completed its construction with the help of his two children Marco and Elisa, who now run the establishment. The two-storey building with its simple forms is dominated by the central «torretta», the small tower made of local stone that gives the B&B its name. Large glass windows allow light to flood into the interiors and guest rooms with their wood-beamed ceilings. «My brother and I wanted to accommodate our guests in spacious and uniquely customised rooms, while at the same time maintaining a sense of design consistency through visual continuity and the use of a small number of materials,» explains Elisa. The rooms, named after the women of the family, recreate special atmospheres: the romantic room, the suite with a private sauna housed in the tower, the room with a concealed kitchenette. The owners were in no doubt about the choice of porcelain for the tiling, and explored different combinations and sizes. «We chose Panaria Ceramica’s collections for their functionality and practicality as well as their aesthetic qualities,» continues Elisa. In some rooms the owners opted for tiles from the North Cape collection in the Rondane and Reisa versions inspired by northern European timber, which evoke the warmth, beauty and distinctive wood grain of Scandinavian parquet. Other rooms feature the Assi D’Alpe series in the Chalet colour, whose strong aesthetic appeal combines a contemporary interpretation of wood craftsmanship and modern Alpine atmospheres. A natural look is the distinctive quality of the Discover collection, chosen in the Origin and White versions, which reproduces the characteristic veins of Pietra di Vals, a quartzite stone used in the bathrooms and on the walls in the breakfast area and stairs. The Urbanature series, Portand version, reproduces a concrete effect. The irregular surface texture creates a variety of reflections, which are particularly striking in the large size version installed on the floor. For the bathroom walls, the owners again chose the Memory Mood series in the colours Sheere and Dim, inspired by the cement tiles that were very popular from the late-19th through to the mid-20th centuries, an original and authentic solution that conjures up a powerful sense of times past. The two young owners have taken care of all aspects of the project in meticulous detail and with great passion.