La Masseria which first opened its doors in south Florida in 2017, boasts an impressive menu of exceptional and authentic dishes so I wanted to create a sleek yet warm and welcoming interior design to match their wonderful hospitality. Having designed 3 other restaurants for this same ownership team, I wanted to create a modern and updated version of a “Masseria”. In the region of Puglia, in Southern Italy, a masseria is a fortified farmhouse, and many of them in Italy have now been transformed into restaurants or hotels.   This was the perfect opportunity to take a traditional Italian countryside look and reimagine it for a newer, younger chic Florida audience. 

Using contrast to mix dark wood tones with light stone on the floors, washed tone wood ceiling beams and subtle textured light walls give it a stylish but simple look that’s modern and warm at the same time.  A good lighting scheme and soundproofing was a must to make sure it would be appealing to this West Palm Beach customer base at any age. Some stunning large scale black and white photographs of real Italian Masseria’s add just the right amount of style and a contemporary cool vibe.  In the large outdoor dining space I used woven wicker furniture in tones of putty and gray to give some texture and carry the indoor design story into the outdoor area, capping off the top of the area with oversized telescoping umbrellas, and firetowers keep the vast outdoor area feeling cozy and intimate no matter the season.