From the beginning, Villa & House has been focused on “craftsmanship, restraint and design for designers,” said co-founder Luca Rensi. Now celebrating 25 years, the company shared the evolution of its brand at an IFDA event in its New York showroom earlier this month. It then debuted a bath vanity line, along with other introductions, at the recent High Point Market in its InterHall showroom.
Villa & House – originally called Bungalow 5 – was founded because Marina Lanina, John Roudabush and Luca Rensi – all designers – couldn’t find things they wanted in the marketplace.
“We wanted to democratize style to a certain degree and figure out a way to bring things that were unusual and really more oriented to people at what we consider to be a normal retail price,” said Rensi at its New York event with the IFDA. “Even at high-end design, not every client wanted to spend an enormous amount of money for furniture in every room.” In the late 90s, he added, “you couldn’t buy anything truly interesting without really opening up your wallet.”
And its product line is purposely edited. “You could go crazy and try and make everything for everybody and become overwhelmed with all the different types of choices — but then you can dilute your brand and become unrecognizable,” Rensi said.
While the name Bungalow 5 worked for the company for a long time, eventually it found itself pigeonholed into secondary rooms or homes, Rensi said, and the name didn’t reflect how the company had matured. It transitioned the name to Villa & House 3.5 years ago to reflect the design direction.
“We didn’t reinvent our aesthetic, we protected it,” Rensi said.
During Spring High Point Market, Villa & House showcased its first foray into bathroom vanities with four styles in single- and double-sink options.
Haley Bond, content and partnership strategist for the company, said the expansion into bath came about because of demand from current customers who wanted to outfit bathrooms with products that matched some of Villa & House’s existing case goods, such as the Arianna, which also comes in a desk and side table.
The marble-topped vanities come with the sinks and a removable backsplash, although hardware isn’t included.
The emphasis on green continues to grow for the brand, with new additions featuring shades ranging from olive, as seen on the Callie accent table in Tuscan olive burl and the Lawrence dining chairs in Olive Grove oak; and Heritage Spring Green, which was used for the Jacqui side table and tea table and the Jordan desk.
Scallops, waves, loops, star details, twisted rope and smoked glass borders were among the details appearing on many new mirrors.
Joanne Friedrick contributed to this article.
