Pininfarina has spent nearly a century designing cars for some of the world’s top marques. It has also expanded beyond four-wheelers, penning yachts, trains, and residential towers. Now it’s putting its own, very distinctive spin on luxury homes.

The Italian design studio has teamed up with Miami builder Manny Angelo Varas and MV Group USA on a collection of six fully furnished single-family residences—the first in the U.S. to carry the Pininfarina name. Collection Sei Design by Pininfarina will be fully unveiled during Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance weekend, as the firm celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Duetto, one of Alfa Romeo’s most iconic designs. The unveiling also comes in a milestone year for Pininfarina, which is marking 96 years of shaping some of the automotive world’s most recognizable designs.

Varas knows the branded-residence world well. He previously served as the owner’s representative on the first Armani residence in the U.S. and has built custom homes for clients including Lil Wayne and Rick Ross. But he says the idea here is less about putting an automaker’s name on a house and more about giving ultrawealthy buyers an alternative to the drawn-out custom-building process.

“There have been plenty of automotive-branded condominiums,” Varas says. “We wanted to do something different.”

Pininfarina standalone branded homes

Floor-to-ceiling glass will connect the villa’s living spaces with the surrounding landscape.

Pininfarina

The idea came in part from conversations with his billionaire clients, who wanted the personalization of a custom home without having to coordinate every architect, designer, contractor, and furnishing themselves. “One of the consistent items that we had was, ‘I wish I could buy something that was already curated,’” he says.

Rather than building all six homes in one development, the partners are letting owners choose the location of each pad. Buyers put down a 10 percent deposit, then either bring a homesite they already own or have six months to find one. MV Group evaluates each property, which must have at least 20,000 square feet and meet the project’s requirements for views and location, before construction begins. Each approximately 8,000-square-foot residence is fully furnished and priced at $16.95 million, not including land, and takes roughly two years to complete.

The homes can be built anywhere in the country, but there will only be one per city. Varas expects three to land in South Florida—likely Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach—with the others potentially headed to markets such as Aspen, the Hamptons, and California. Buyers must also hold the property for at least a year before selling.

“We reverse-engineered the product,” Varas tells Robb Report. Rather than starting with a lot and designing around it, his team and Pininfarina spent about two years creating the house first, down to the furniture, millwork, landscaping, and pool. The six residences will share essentially the same design, with adjustments made to suit each site’s views.

Collection Sei Design by Pininfarina

The homes will feature sweeping curves, lush landscaping, and expansive outdoor living spaces.

Pininfarina

Each home includes a glass-walled five-car garage with single-post lifts and a driveway turntable, while softly curved walls bring an automotive sensibility to the architecture. At the center is a three-story indoor garden beneath a glass dome, bringing natural light and greenery into the heart of the house.

The homes are also focused on wellness, with a sauna, spa spaces, and a gym equipped for virtual training and telehealth appointments. Varas says communal wellness areas are increasingly replacing bars, cigar rooms, and theaters as the social center of luxury homes.

The buyers won’t necessarily be car collectors, either. Varas expects interest from automotive enthusiasts as well as luxury real estate investors drawn to the turnkey nature of the homes and the opportunity to own one of six such residences in the country. The one-year resale restriction is also designed to keep developers from buying up the collection and preserve the brand’s exclusivity.

Click here to see more photos of these branded homes.

Collection Sei Design by Pininfarina branded homes

Pininfarina

Authors

  • Abby Montanez

    Abby Montanez

    Abigail Montanez is a staff writer at Robb Report. She has worked in both print and digital publishing for over half a decade, covering everything from real estate, entertainment, dining, travel to…


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