There is a little-known place in Italy that looks like something out of a science fiction movie. Brutalist architecture, suspended between dream and experimentation, created to break the rules and imagine a new way of experiencing space. It is a place that intrigues, divides and surprises anyone who discovers it. We are talking about the Experimental House designed by Giuseppe Perugini, a unique work that still attracts architects, the curious and travelers in search of unusual places.
The Perugini family and a piece of land in Fregene
It all began in the 1960s, when architect Giuseppe Perugini, together with his wife Uga De Plaisant (also an architect) and their son Raynaldo, decided to buy land in a seaside resort not far from Rome that was becoming very popular: Fregene. The idea is not to build a classic beach house, but to experiment with a new architectural language, free from schemes.
The Perugini family then transforms that lot nestled in the pine forest into a veritable open-air workshop, a living and changing construction site.
Three buildings: the House, the Ball and the Cubes
The modernist complex consists of three distinct and visionary bodies. The Main House, suspended on pillars, plays with solids and voids, with rough concrete walls and large glass surfaces that put interior and exterior in dialogue. The Ball, a large concrete sphere, is reminiscent of a space module landed in the trees. Finally, there are the Cubes, small geometric volumes that complete the complex as self-contained rooms.
The use of exposed concrete, pure forms and neutral colors accentuates the brutalist and experimental character of the project.
Ambitious, futuristic architecture in Fregene.
But the real heart of the Experimental House is the idea of a contemporary tree house: a suspended dwelling, almost floating among the maritime pines of Fregene. Perugini imagined a space that detached itself from the ground to re-establish a direct relationship with nature. Every element, from the suspended walkways to the outdoor stairs, was designed to create an experience more than just a living space.
The Tree House was not just a shelter, but a way to question the meaning of living and the possibility of living in harmony with the environment.
The perpetual building site: a conceptual and visionary house
One of the most fascinating aspects of this architectural project is that the Experimental House was never “finished” in the traditional sense. Perugini conceived it as a perpetual building site, an organism in constant evolution, open to modifications and additions. It was not a static project, but a living experiment that defied the logic of perennial completion.
It is precisely this unfinished nature that makes it a conceptual architecture, a kind of three-dimensional manifesto of the possibilities of creative thought.
How to visit the Experimental House
In recent years the Experimental House has been exceptionally open to the public thanks to Open House Roma, which organized special tours curated by Prof. Raynaldo Perugini, son of Giuseppe and Uga and co-author of the work. These visits marked the beginning of a new phase of enhancement, allowing hundreds of visitors to discover the history and significance of the Tree House directly from the voice of those who created it.
To date, however, the Tree House is uninhabited and awaiting restoration, suspended between the risk of abandonment and the hope of recovery.
The future could see it transformed into a cultural center, a museum of experimental architecture or a workshop for artists.
How to reach it
If you’re wondering where to find this hidden gem, the answer is simple: the Experimental House is located in Fregene, in the province of Rome, just a few steps from the sea and immersed in the pine forest. It is not always accessible inside, but even from the outside the view is unique. It is a place that deserves to be seen at least once in a lifetime, to remind us that architecture can also be a fantastic adventure.
Address: Via Marina di Campo, 00054 Fregene RM.