Andrew Trotter remembers his first building. Just as any of us recall the first experience of something new and joyous, so, too, does Trotter continue to cite with affection the first real building he designed as an architect.

“In some ways, of course, I like all the hotels and houses I’ve designed, but Masseria Moroseta is very special to me,” he says, referring to the boutique hotel in Ostuni, Italy, that was completed in 2016. “It was my first project, and one that brought me many things. All my projects have come from that one project. And I’ve met many wonderful people as a result.”

So iconic has the design of the hotel become in the Puglia region of southern Italy that it is as much a landmark in the dramatic landscape as the region’s vast olive groves, undulating vineyards, and conical stone houses known as trulli. Trotter has earned a reputation not only for the distinctive forms he creates in his architectural and interior design projects, but also for his ability to honor local building traditions. His interest in masseria (which can mean “farm” or “farmhouse”), for example, extends to the rural dwellings and their settings that have characterized Puglia for centuries. Like those structures that exist by the thousands, the very layout of Masseria Moroseta reflects, in significant part, the form of such dwellings, with an inviting central courtyard, large recessed windows, and a stairway that leads to a roof lookout, with views of the Adriatic.

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WRITTEN BY DAVID MASELLO

This story appeared in the Spring 2023 issue of MILIEU.