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A villa of the early nineteenth century, a refuge from business trips and metropolitan chaos. A quiet and cosy place, to recharge your batteries, find ideas and inspiration, draw without distractions. All around, the forest, snow, horses. We are 800 metres above sea level, above Lake Como. This is where Alessandra Monti moved her work (www.monti-studio.com) a decade ago, engaging in person to restore the premises in a conservative manner and to create the right furnishing mix: a successful blend of antiques and fifties design.

"Our office was in Como, a small city that no longer represented me," says Alessandra. "I love the extremes: if it has to be a city, I want it to be Paris, London, New York. Otherwise I prefer the countryside and the mountains, the real ones."

Here snow is the host from December to March. If the ground floor and the first floor could have been heated by the large vintage open fireplaces, the second floor, which houses the study and the master bedroom, needed something more. Thinking about pellet heating as a solution was not easy for Alessandra. The practical aspect was undeniable, but considerable psychological effort was needed for a nostalgic soul like hers.

"Despite my resistance, the pellet stove Cute stove won me over right away," Alessandra says.

Firstly: for its flame, large and soft, that has nothing to do with the "cemetery grave lights," as defined by Alessandra, typical of cheaper pellet stoves. Secondly: for its shapes.

I like Cute because it is what it is. It has a functional, pure and technical appearance, reminiscent of mechanical objects of the seventies. It does not aspire to be something else, nor mimic a piece of furniture. I like it for its simplicity, because it has nothing affected about it. – Alessandra Monti, home stylist.

It was very simple to install Cute. Its small size, just 80 cm in height and 60 in width, have allowed it to be simply inserted into the existing firebox, without needing to do any masonry work.

"Before, in the same space, there was an old wood burning stove made of concrete, with hand-painted fake majolica tiles," says Alessandra. "I did not like it at all, and never used it."

Now Cute, despite its small size, effectively heats both the living room where the collaborators work, as well as Alessandra's private office, for a total area of about 50 square metres.

"When I am at home, I keep it running all day, with the fan on level 1 or 2, or even switched off," says Alessandra. "It is absolutely enough to maintain 22°C in the study and work in complete silence. With this type of use, I use approximately a bag and a half of pellets a day."

Practicality, then, but not only. The Cute pellet stove won its place of honour in this beautiful villa thanks to its unique features. Aspects that have found their way into Alessandra's nostalgic heart. 

Click on the Gallery here below to see the gorgeous pics made by Eugenio Castiglioni (Studio CCRZ) and Sandro Paderni (Eye Studio) in the other areas of the house.

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