It’s not usual for new homeowners to gripe about the sorry state their predecessors left the home in—a leaky pool, a chimney to rival the Leaning Tower of Pisa, or a bathroom that looked like it belonged in a gas station. But Gustavo Antonioni can go so far as to say that the previous residents of his retreat in the Puglia region of Italy lived like animals. To be fair, they were animals. About 200 goats had made themselves at home inside the once-aristocratic villa of a centuries-old masseria, or agricultural estate, that he was about to restore. The need to pressure-wash the entire interior would become but a minor inconvenience in a halting seven-year project that was filled with challenges before culminating in an elegantly modern interpretation of a historic property. Pre-renovation, Antonioni was based in London, where he oversaw the European marketing and licensing teams for various leading global entertainment companies. Born in Argentina to Italian..
