Villa Tanya
Giving an old stone house a new life has always been my favourite challenge, and in the abandoned village of Gornja Lastva, Montenegro, it arrived in the shape of four surviving outer walls, a ruined forge and a roofless shell, all of them waiting, it seemed, for me to turn up. I kept the outside exactly as it once was, down to the wooden windows and shutters, and asked the inside to speak a different language: Scandinavian minimalism with a rural touch.
Built in 1878 from the pink stone found only in this corner of Montenegro, the main house had outlived the quarry that made it, so every stone had to be salvaged from abandoned buildings and married to local stone, timber and steel. With only narrow roads leading to the village, each delivery became a small expedition, and I relied on local craftsmen who still know the old ways of building. The olive trees of the estate, spared rather than felled, found their way into the design, and the glass between the floors draws daylight deep into the house, adding a modern note to the old stone. A pool, a summer kitchen with a pizza oven, a shaded dining terrace and my own studio complete the compound.
It is in the details that the compound comes into its own. Underfloor heating, a separate heat pump in each house and smart skylights keep the climate in check without disturbing the 1878 walls, and a smart-home system quietly looks after the rest. Every house has its own laundry, and any new timber is either reclaimed or responsibly sourced. The garden steps down towards the bay, with the yachts of Porto Montenegro, the old port town of Tivat and the open Adriatic spread out below.
In 2025 the Luxury Lifestyle Awards crowned the restoration Best Villa Renovation Interior Design in Montenegro, and the same year welcomed my studio, Tanya Design Montenegro, among the 100 best interior designers in the world, in the TOP 100 Interior Designers of the World 2025.
