Natural

BEAUTY
Franco and Daniela’s restoration of a ruin in Lombardy
reflects their passion for the region’s architectural heritage as
well as the ethos behind their organic beauty business
F E AT U R E DAV I D E L OVAT T I / C H A R L O T T E PAC K E R P H OTO G R A P H S DAV I D E L OVAT T I

Living Inside

Profile
T H E OW N E R S Lucy Russell,
who
6 8 H&A S U M M E R 2 017 conducts residential property
searches
 H&A LIFESTYLE: Homes

Botanical prints in the dining room reflect Franco

and Daniela’s interest in the natural world
FACING PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP
LEFT Franco is a keen gardener and the land
around the farmhouse is productive once more;
the display domes are mid 19th-century and
are filled with cowrie and cone snail shells; the
simple exterior of the house has been sensitively
restored; the antique scent bottles were originally
used by perfumers in Grasse. Franco bought them
from interiors shop Raw in Milan
 F ive years ago, when Franco
Bergamaschi and his
wife Daniela first viewed
Cascina La Folla, it was
like walking into a fairy tale. Hidden in
the lush woodland of the Parco dell’Adda
nature reserve, an area of outstanding
natural beauty just south east of Milan, the
abandoned farmstead had been reclaimed by
the land on which it stood.
Uninhabited for over 30 years and all
but forgotten, the 19th-century farmhouse
was smothered with vines and brambles;
the roofs had collapsed and grass and
shrubs were growing through flagstones
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and floorboards. Outside, the garden was
overgrown and the surrounding farmland,
which hadn’t been worked for many years,
had become a virtual wilderness.
It was clear from the outset that making
Cascina La Folla habitable once more wasn’t
going to be a simple renovation project. Not
only was the building completely derelict, but
its location within the nature reserve meant
ABOVE LEFT
The living room is
furnished with country
pieces from France
and Italy and includes
a traditional Proven al
cupboard dating from
the early 1900s. The
antique bergères have
been reupholstered. A
campaign tripod lamp
has been reconditioned
that any works would require two sets of to create an unusual
approval, one from the municipality of Lodi and eye-catching
light source
and another from the parks authority –�a
potential bureaucratic nightmare that would
send most would-be buyers of a more lily-
livered constitution running for the hills.

But far from being a problem, Cascina
La Folla’s ruinous state and complicated
circumstances only added to its charm
for Franco and Daniela. The couple own
a successful organic beauty business,
L’Erbolario (equivalent to Neal’s Yard
Remedies in the UK), which has a strong
ecological ethos and both Franco and Daniela
are passionate about environmental issues and
organic farming. They saw restoring Cascina
La Folla as an opportunity to safeguard part
of the architectural heritage of the region.
‘We wanted to be as faithful as possible
to the overall features of the house and, more
broadly, to the spirit of the rural buildings
H&A LIFESTYLE: Homes
ABOVE The sitting room is
Profile lit by vintage wall lanterns
that Franco and Daniela
T H E OW N E R S Franco Bergamaschi and his bought from Raw. The metal
wife, Daniela, founder-owners of the Italian organic letters above the original
stone fireplace are vintage
skincare company L’Erbolario (erbolario.co.uk). The
shop signage. The elegant
house is used at weekends by the family – they have
sofa and the buttoned
two children, Luigi (30) and Giulia (27). pouf are both French and
have been upholstered in
T H E P RO P E RT Y Nineteenth-century a heavy, natural canvas.
farmhouse within a designated area of natural The découpage plates are
beauty just outside Milan. On the ground floor by John Derian. The walls
a spacious hall leads into a living room, dining and ceilings are all painted
room, kitchen and pantry and there is also a small the same chalky white to
bathroom. Upstairs there are five bedroom suites maximise the light
which each comprise a bedroom, bathroom and
dressing room.
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 ABOVE In the dining room a cupboard with traditional chicken wire
contains china and some of Daniela and Franco’s vintage bottles
RIGHT They love to cook and the kitchen is very much the heart
of the house. Vintage baskets and copper pans line the top of the
cupboards. The door on the left leads into a pantry and storage area

of the area,’ says Franco. He asked his friend,

interior designer, Paolo Badesco, to create
a home with ‘a timeless appeal, respectful
of ecological issues and in keeping with the
architecture of the house.’ Paolo’s company,
Paolo Badesco Interior Design, has overseen
the fitting out of L’Erbolario stores worldwide
for many years, so he understood what
Franco and Daniela wanted to achieve.
The whole renovation took the best part
of three years. During this time Paolo’s
team worked hard, not only to make the
building habitable, but also to restore its
original footprint, eliminating later additions
and ensuring that the materials used were
appropriate for the age and location of the
property. ‘Wherever possible beams and
other original building materials were

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 The rooms are painted in
calm, neutral colours, and
furnished with understated
antiques… rather than
modern equivalents
reused. Where replacements had to be made,
we sourced local handcrafted products,’
he says. Of course, the essentials of 21st-
century living had to be included, but it was
done sensitively with�all decisions made
on ecological grounds. ‘Cascina La Folla
is surrounded by the natural world that
inspired Franco and Daniela’s products,’
says Paolo, and so the work on the house’s
exterior and interior was designed ‘to reflect
the nature reserve as well as their interests
in ecology and the environment.’
The rooms are painted in calm, neutral
colours, and furnished with understated
antiques. The couple have always been
keen collectors, preferring 18th and 19th-
century chairs and sofas over their modern
equivalents. Frequent travellers for their herbalist’s craft, a tradition that L’Erbolario ABOVE In one of the
business, they buy pieces from all over the continues to this day. The couple are both bedrooms, a pair of
Gustavian stools has
world and are particularly fond of the simple keen cooks and the kitchen is stocked with been reupholstered
aesthetic of Nordic antiques. lovely old copper pans, traditional wicker in a pretty toile de
Occasionally they ask Paolo to source baskets and wooden storage boxes – all Jouy fabric, featuring
branches and sheep,
specific pieces on their behalf. The designer are used whenever they spend time at the to match the bed
co-owns Raw, a stylish interiors shop in farmhouse. Vintage gardening implements not linen. The tall black
Milan that stocks a wide range of antiques as only reflect Franco’s interest in agriculture but trunk is vintage and
was used for storing
well as vintage collectables. are put to use in the garden.
and transporting
Daniela and Franco both have a huge Although very di�erent from the ruin they military maps
knowledge of the therapeutic properties of fell in love with, Cascina La Folla retains its
plants and they are drawn to pieces that storybook charm, testament to the owners’
relate to all things botanical and medicinal, sensitive handling of the restoration and
such as the prints that hang in the dining decor, both of which are in harmony with
room. Antique medicine bottles with the age of the building and the ancient and
attractive gilt lettering are a clear nod to the unspoilt landscape in which it sits. Q

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