THE OLIVE house

INSPIRED BY THE COLOURS OF THE LOCAL COUNTRYSIDE, COLLETTE DINNIGAN AND BRADLEY COCKS FURNISHED THEIR ANCIENT ITALIAN FARMHOUSE WITH VINTAGE PIECES AND NATURAL FABRICS

- FIONA MCCARTHY, GEORGIE RODGERS

Pool

‘The pool is a very dark, almost black-marine blue,’ says Collette. ‘We spend lots of time here playing backgammon or relaxing in the shade.’

BUY THE KEY PIECES

Tine K bamboo sun lounger, £845, Idyll Home, is similar

HOME NOTES

WHO LIVES HERE?

Fashion and interior designer Collette Dinnigan, her husband Bradley, and their children Estella, 17 and Hunter, nine.

THE PROPERTY

Casa Olivetta, a three-bedroom rural house in Puglia, Italy, dating back 500 years, with a one-bedroom guest apartment.

When Collette Dinnigan decided to take a year’s sabbatical in Italy with her family, she didn’t expect to end up putting down roots.

After winding down her successful fashion business, the Australian designer and her husband Bradley embarked upon a tour of the ‘toe and heel’ of southern Italy with their children, Estella and Hunter.

Arriving in Puglia felt like a stroke of fate. ‘We loved the area’s wildness and found the old masserias enchanting,’ says Collette. While staying around Ostuni, famous for its whitewashed city perched high above the Adriatic Sea, they found this tumbledown rural building, which dated back over 500 years. It might not have been part of the plan but Collette, a dab hand at home renovations, wasn’t about to pass up such a magical opportunity.

Courtyard