Rose bushes planted in tribute to a grandmother, a childhood garden and a restoration guided by Sardinia: the true story of the house.
Every house has a name, but few carry a story. Villa Rose's begins in the garden of Stéphanie's grandparents in Sant'Antioco. There, the sweet grapes of "sa pregua" were eaten straight from the vine, and the spring medlars announced the end of the school year.
In that garden also grew her grandmother's roses, great flowers with magenta-velvet petals that remain, in Stéphanie's eyes, the most beautiful in the world. When she restored the house, she planted rose bushes in her honour. The villa's name was found. You can read Stéphanie's full portrait on our hosts page.
Materials that tell of Sardinia
All the materials chosen for the restoration tell a fragment of the island. Biancone stone, quarried near Orosei on the east coast, lines the paths with its pale hue that softens the evening light. Majestic chestnut beams carry the ceilings, and a marble staircase runs through the large open living room.
The centrepiece stands outside, under the pergola: a pizza oven made in Palermo by one of the last Italian artisans to master the traditional working of raw materials. It heats up fast, holds its heat for hours, and turns every summer evening into a small celebration. You can see it in pictures in our gallery.
Villa Rose is the bridge between the magic of an island childhood and the finest discoveries of ten years of travel.
A house made to be lived in, not visited
Comfort was not sacrificed to decor. The house sleeps up to eleven guests in four bedrooms and a children's mezzanine, with five bathrooms including an outdoor one by the pool. The pantry hides two wine cellars, the laundry room a washer and dryer, and each level opens onto the terraces overlooking the pool.
Today the garden keeps giving tomatoes, figs, lemons and aromatic herbs to whoever cares to pick them, two hundred metres from Spiaggia Grande. And the roses bloom every year, faithful to the memory that gave the house its name.