This palace in Gallipoli, built in the early 1900s by Americo Di Sansebastiano, blends family heritage with the dual soul of Puglia. Today, his descendant Giancarlo D’Ambrosio has entrusted Ludovica Serafini and Roberto Palomba with the task of reinterpreting it without erasing its essence. The soaring entrance hall, once home to horses and early automobiles, still preserves frescoes celebrating Salento’s products and the deities of commerce and prosperity.
Palomba Serafini Associati modernize the spaces and, by building upward, create a new residential volume on the rooftop with a panoramic pool—an element that brings together Puglia’s bourgeois and rural identities. On the piano nobile, a suite of six rooms is unified by a palette of dégradé blues. As Serafini explains: “It is a color that ties together frescoes and old tiles, adding a touch of contemporaneity.” The historic kitchen and old servant-call instruments are preserved as emotional landmarks.
Contemporary furnishings introduce new perspectives: “A mirrored table reflects the frescoes, and soft LED light restores the right proportions.”
The newly built upper floor becomes a masseria-like refuge of stone, white surfaces, and greenery: “The door is a stargate to another dimension.” Mirrors, niches, and local materials create a continuous dialogue between past and present.
