![Appartamento Brolettuono by Archiplanstudio](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2018/07/appartamento-brolettuono-archiplanstudio-interiors-residential-italy_dezeen_hero-2-852x479.jpg)
Archiplan celebrates painted frescos in subtle revamp of 15th-century Italian home
Faded frescos offer a backdrop to contemporary furnishings in Brolettouno Apartment, a holiday home in northern Italy that has been refurbished by local studio Archiplan.
The property is located in Mantua, Lombardy, in a building that dates back to the 15th century. It belongs to a young couple, who asked Archiplan to transform the space into a getaway for tourists. Their only requirement was that costs for the revamp be kept to a minimum.
![Appartamento Brolettuono by Archiplanstudio](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2018/07/appartamento-brolettuono-archiplanstudio-interiors-residential-italy_dezeen_2364_col_8-852x568.jpg)
Left with this largely open brief, the designers decided to make very few changes to the property – choosing instead to honour its timeworn aesthetic.
"We tried to keep together two worlds – the one of the old and the one of the new – in a balance able to guarantee the identity of both of them," said Archiplan, which is led by designers Diego Cisi and Stefano Gorni Silvestrini.
![Appartamento Brolettuono by Archiplanstudio](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2018/07/appartamento-brolettuono-archiplanstudio-interiors-residential-italy_dezeen_2364_col_15-852x568.jpg)
Several original frescos appearing throughout the apartment are preserved. Areas that could not be salvaged are covered in plaster or painted a shade of mint-green, to complement the pastoral scenes depicted on some of the walls.
![Appartamento Brolettuono by Archiplanstudio](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2018/07/appartamento-brolettuono-archiplanstudio-interiors-residential-italy_dezeen_2364_col_12-852x1278.jpg)
A partition has been knocked through in the apartment's main room to form an open-plan living area and bedroom. Privacy is provided by a tall, perforated headboard crafted from light-hued ash wood.
Directly behind sits a simplistic bench seat made from birch. This material was also used to create a large dining table and chairs.
![Appartamento Brolettuono by Archiplanstudio](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2018/07/appartamento-brolettuono-archiplanstudio-interiors-residential-italy_dezeen_2364_col_19-852x1293.jpg)
To "emphasise the differences between [the apartment's] individual spaces", the architects employed a more muted material and colour palette in the bathroom, which features stark white walls and a wide stainless-steel basin.
Meanwhile the kitchen features black surfaces and cabinetry.
![Appartamento Brolettuono by Archiplanstudio](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2018/07/appartamento-brolettuono-archiplanstudio-interiors-residential-italy_dezeen_2364_col_5-852x1136.jpg)
Similarly, interior designer Kristina Lastauskaite-Punde chose to keep fragments of fresco in her overhaul of a 19th-century apartment in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Photography is by Davide Galli Atelier.