The Story of Residence INTUR
A 1950s Swiss villa at Punta Schioppo, restored and run by the same family for over 40 years.
There are places, houses and settings that stay fixed in our mind, where our thoughts return when we look for a moment of pleasant relaxation. There are houses that manage to create an almost magical relationship between indoors, outdoors and the sea, fostering serenity.
It doesn’t matter if we lived in them only briefly: this is probably the strength of our Residence, a place to spend pleasant moments of rest, lived essentially in close contact with nature, rediscovering the luxury of simplicity.
Walking the paths through the park you come across views of the sea that capture the reflections of the water; there are glimpses able to stir an emotion and fix in the mind the intrinsic character of the place. These emotions grow and multiply when looking down from above and visiting the nearby historic centre of Marciana Marina, a precious jewel set among the rocks.
The Origins – 1950
In 1950 the Swiss Moderspaker family discovered this corner of the Island of Elba, part Mediterranean park and part vineyard, with an adjoining 19th-century farmhouse where wine was produced.
The head of the family, Swiss Consul in Florence, a lover of the sea and a keen sailor, had this villa built entirely in granite, like the local period houses. It was designed by Swiss architects, with the collaboration of Italian landscape designers who laid out the park.
A villa designed for the sea
The villa was conceived for the family, with rooms for the staff and a seafront quarter for the sailor who had to handle and look after the great boat: a 22-metre sailing yacht that cruised and raced in the Mediterranean. The large bollards still visible on the seafront platforms were used for mooring.
The farmhouse, while keeping its function as a wine cellar, was partly renovated and turned into a guest annexe, mostly for regatta and cruising companions.
The park
Respecting the existing estate and the 16,000 m² Mediterranean park, the following were created:
- Internal footpaths of almost 1 km
- Four descents to the sea
- Native plants for the floral scents
Particular care was taken to respect the environment: the villa, the farmhouse and the paths are almost invisible from the sea or the road.
The Consul’s legacy
The Consul left elements that still characterise the residence today:
- The helm of his boat (hung in the loggia at the entrance, dated 1960)
- The copper lamps from old boats
- The ship’s bell
- The large helm of a 19th-century sailing ship: it stood on the entrance gate, and today sits in the portico thanks to the restoration by engineer Filocca’s son, Luigi, after months of patient work
From discovering Elba to the restoration (1960–1989)
In 1960 engineer Eraldo Filocca and his wife Ines came to Elba on their honeymoon. They fell in love with an island that was then opening up to tourism, leaving behind a past of mines and blast furnaces. They returned several times, glad to see that the island was not being spoiled by floods of concrete as had happened elsewhere.
The purchase (1983)
In 1983 the company Intur s.r.l. Iniziative Turistiche (Tourism Initiatives) from the Brianza area of Lombardy bought the villa, while the farmhouse was bought by a family from Milan.
The brothers Eraldo (an engineer) and Mario (an architect), with their staff, oversaw the restoration and renovation. The park was divided into 11,000 m² for the villa and 5,000 m² for the farmhouse, but without fences marking the boundaries, so the properties keep their unified appearance.
Protecting the land and the craft of sailing
Demanding works were needed after a landslide caused part of the park above the little beach to slip about twenty metres towards the sea. The breakwater, destroyed by storms, was rebuilt with large stones from the Val di Cornia. The caves carved out by the sea beneath the platform were made safe with underwater concrete casts.
Keen sailors themselves, the brothers brought elements and technologies of sailing into the construction:
- Stair and walkway railings with steel cables tensioned with turnbuckles
- All iron elements replaced with identical copies in stainless steel
- Original fixtures and all characterful elements preserved
Sustainable choices since the 1980s
Particular care was taken in choosing non-polluting systems, to keep the scents of the park intact:
- Hot water produced with a zero-emission air/water heat pump
- Photovoltaic canopy in the car park: the residence’s electricity with a net-zero energy balance over the year
- A well in the rock for soft, lime-free water for the plants, bathrooms and seaside showers
- Electrical systems and water network built to standards that regulations only required many years later
Only three bathrooms were left unchanged, to preserve the character of the manor villa.
Today
The residence opened in 1989, after one year of design and four years of construction.
It has always been family-run and is still managed directly by the family, now in its third generation.
The members of the second generation contributed to the design, construction and organisational phases, and still offer their support and experience today.
Today management is entrusted to the third generation, with the active support of the whole family.