ALESSIA in WONDERLAND

IN THE ITALIAN SKI RESORT OF CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, A MILANESE HOMEOWNER TAPS HER ARCHITECT SISTER TO BUILD AN ALPINE CHALET WITH FANTASTICAL FLAIR.

- CHRISTOPHER GARIS

The dining room of a vacation house in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, designed by Natalia Bianchi for her sister, Alessia Bianchi Bormioli, and her husband, Francesco. Custom dining table; 18th-century Italian painted armoire; sconces by Paola Napoleone. For details, see Resources.

Unlike many ski destinations around the world where resort towns were purpose-built, Italy's Cortina d'Ampezzo is a small village with a centuries-old history tucked between the confines of the Venetian and Holy Roman Empires. Though still in the Veneto region, its capital, Venice, is a two-hour drive down winding mountain roads, while the German-speaking South Tyrol feels much closer; even Austria is just under an hour's drive over the valley pass. The town-which hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956 and will co-host the next edition with Milan in 2026 has long been a favorite destination for the international jet set, lured by both its world-class ski runs and its appearances in the 1963 Pink Panther and the James Bond classic For Your Eyes Only.

The walls in the kitchen are coated in whitewashed render, a textured finish of cement and limestone, and the door is of reclaimed pine with hand-forged iron hardware.

Despite those star turns, Cortina retains a traditional flavor with its alpine architecture and mix of locals and vacation homeowners from across Italy. The town has always had an allure for a couple from Milan, Alessia Bianchi Bormioli and Francesco Bormioli, who spent holidays here as a child when he was growing up in Parma. It was Francesco, a business executive and entrepreneur, who found a property in the town's Chiave district and was captivated by its mountain views. Alessia, on the other hand, was initially crestfallen. The existing structure had originally been a semidetached farmhouse that had burned down in the 1940s and been rebuilt as a ho-hum inn.