Perched high on a rocky promontory overlooking the sea on the Italian island of Capri, Casa Malaparte has been an inspirational structure for artists and designers for decades. In his book on the house, author Michael McDonough describes it as “simply, the most beautiful house in the world.” It was commissioned by Italian writer and filmmaker Curzio Malaparte (born Kurt Erich Suckert, 1898–1957) in 1937. Disappointed with architect Adalberto Libera’s initial box-like design for the site, Malaparte redesigned elements of it himself, including its distinctive stepped roof. When he occupied Casa Malaparte in 1942, he referred to it as “casa come me” (house like me). Unlike its complex, enigmatic owner, however, the house’s rational modernist architecture hid nothing.
After Malaparte’s death, the house was neglected and became dilapidated, but a…
