One and two-bedroom flats have come up for sale at realistic prices in an achingly stylish factory conversion in Venice’s Giudecca islet
Boats bob on midnight blue canals, narrow palazzos soar high over slim bridges and the Dome of San Marco tickles the sky. Venice’s charm is everlasting and many travellers fall so hard for it that they decide to buy a home there.
Looking for a place to live in the city, however is often fraught with difficulties. Venice is expensive and practically devoid of new builds—which is great to preserve its architectural integrity, but slightly problematic if you fancy a modern home.
Now however, a couple of flats have come up for sale which have both realistic prices and contemporary comforts. They are situated in the Judeca Nova, an ambitious conversion project in the heart of the Giudecca islet, a few minutes’ boat trip from Piazza San Marco.
A little more than ten years ago, Venice’s city council ran an international competition to revitalise what once was a factory by German watch and fuse maker Junghans. The winner was architect Cino Zucchi, who drew up plans to develop the area in a lively neighbourhood with a mix of affordable and luxurious housing, open spaces and university residences. The work was then shared among a group of architects, with Zucchi taking personal responsibility for some of the buildings.
The result is an award-winning blend of industrial architecture—modified to open it up and bring in more outdoor space—and daring new builds, which echo the Spartan look of the former factory but in a modern, unabashedly residential key. The entire complex is striking, soberly minimalistic and yet quintessentially Venetian in both the choice of architectural elements, and in the interaction with the landscape—some of the new builds face the Lagoon.
The two flats for sale are situated in one of the buildings designed by Zucchi himself. One has one bedroom and a wooden-floored living room with open plan kitchen which gives access to a balcony framing watery views. The other has two bedrooms, exposed beams and a panoramic terrace.
Even better, their asking prices, while not cheap, are in the realm of the affordable—the one bedroom flat costs €309,000 and the two-bedroom one costs €493,000.
“Properties in Venice are extremely expensive, and yet these are very reasonably priced and in the area of Giudecca, which is right across the water from the main heart of Venice,” says Linda Travella of selling agents Casa Travella. “Communication is really good, with access to the hub of Venice around St. Mark’s Square, the Rialto bridge and externally to Piazza Roma, as well as excellent train and airport links. All this, while maintaining peace and privacy away from the bustling crowds.”
For more information, contact Casa Travella on +44 01322 660988 or visit www.casatravella.com.
