GRAND ALLUSION

Hannes Peer channels his passion for Milan’s design legacy into an apartment renovation that packs in the references with brio.

-  Christopher Garis

Wealthy cities tend to get remade, frequently and boldly, and Milan is undoubtedly a child of this type of reinvention. The collision of industry, artistry, and finance has created a layered urban archaeology that jumps from Roman to Renaissance to postmodern.

So when ELLE DECOR A-List architect Hannes Peer first saw his client's second-floor apartment in Milan's center, it felt like a rare opportunity. The homeowner, Francesco Dagnino, a lawyer and single father of two young children, pushed the designer to be daring in his renovation of the three-bedroom home. "I am easily bored," Dagnino says. Peer agreed that the space, in the bustling Brera neighborhood, needed a new start, and embarked on a gut renovation.

The change begins in the bold entry, where movable walls of Roman travertine are paired with a bas-relief artwork by Ursula Huber, who happens to be Peer's mother. The Palladiana terrazzo floor was the only remaining element from before the renovation-when the space was the client's law office and even that was ripped up and reinstalled.