Design townhouse in Salento

In the historic centre of Muro Leccese, one of Salento's most authentic villages, stands a one-of-a-kind design home inspired by the town's 16th-century architecture. Bold contemporary lines meet the language of centuries-old stone: white sculptural volumes, a soaring archway, exterior staircases and warm local walls frame a house that feels at once timeless and entirely modern. It stands just a hundred metres from the main square, a five-minute walk from the village's restaurants and pastry shops and a fifteen-minute drive from the sea at Otranto.

Inside, roughly 270 square metres unfold over three floors. The living room sits beneath a sweeping barrel-vaulted ceiling, its pale plaster and stone floors set off by a fireplace, contemporary art and pieces collected with a careful eye. A fully equipped kitchen opens to a long dining table for ten, while a second outdoor kitchen extends the cooking and gathering into the garden. Every room balances the character of old Salento with the comforts of a modern one: generous, light and quietly luxurious.

Outdoors, around a thousand square metres of terraced Mediterranean garden descend across three levels: an entrance garden framed by a stone arch and banana trees, a pool terrace, and a large lower garden shaded by mature trees. A fifteen-metre lap pool stretches along a warm stone wall, with sunloungers, a pergola running the length of the house and an outdoor table set for fifteen. There is a table-tennis table, two heated outdoor showers and suntrap terraces that catch the light from morning to evening.

Five en-suite bedrooms sleep up to ten. On the ground floor, a private suite opens onto both the living room and the pool, with its own patio and outdoor shower. Four further double bedrooms on the first floor each have a full en-suite bathroom and look over the garden, and every room can be arranged with a double bed or two singles. Ideal for families or a group of friends who want space, privacy and beautiful things around them, it is a house made for slow days, long lunches and the rhythms of a Salento summer.