GRAPHĒ: Near Lake Como, This €690K Concrete House Makes the Most of Its Narrow Site

A departure from the area’s grand villas, the bunker-like home by Lorenzo Guzzini Architecture sits above a stream on the edge of a wooded valley.

A departure from Como’s grand villas, this bunker-like home by Lorenzo Guzzini Architecture sits above a stream on the edge of a wooded valley.

Location: Tavernerio, Como, Italy

Price: €690,000 (approximately 773,735 USD)

Year Built: 2024

Architect: Lorenzo Guzzini Architecture

Footprint: 1,345 square feet (4 beds, 2 baths)

Lot Size: 0.71 acres

From the Agent: "Designed by Lorenzo Guzzini Architecture between 2021 and 2024, this 125-square-meter home in Tavernerio, just outside Como, grew out of a close dialogue between the architect and its owners —and from an unusually complex site crossed by a stream.

Rather than treating the constraints of the land as obstacles, Guzzini made them part of the architecture. The house occupies a long, narrow footprint, responding directly to the topography and to the traces of what was already there—including the remains of an old garage and an abandoned chicken coop.

The result is a compact, site-specific building arranged entirely on a single level. Its elongated form follows the landscape, connecting the interiors with the surrounding vegetation and the water running beneath and alongside the property.

Inside, the plan accommodates four bedrooms and two bathrooms, with living spaces conceived as a sequence rather than as isolated rooms. Materials are deliberately restrained, allowing texture, light, and the changing character of the landscape to define the atmosphere of the house.

Elements recovered from the site and materials allowed to weather and oxidize naturally reinforce the sense that the building belongs to its setting rather than simply occupying it. Though its architecture is contemporary, much of the house’s character comes from the way it responds to what was already there.

The property is currently offered for sale at €690,000 and includes approximately 2,890 square meters of land and three parking spaces.

For a house this specific, the transition to a new owner does not necessarily mean the end of its architectural story. Narrow House grew out of the relationship between client and architect, and Lorenzo Guzzini remains available to continue that dialogue with a future owner.

Rather than treating the house as a finished object, the architect is open to helping complete unfinished elements and working with a new owner on materials, doors, finishes, and other details, while preserving the spatial concept that defines the project.

In that sense, buying Narrow House means acquiring not only an existing piece of architecture, but also the possibility of continuing its evolution with the architect who conceived it."