Made in Italy
Where we work
Michelessi SRL, stonemasons in Aprilia since 1976, builds, for Rome, Latina and the whole of Lazio, the kitchen you are looking for when you type "masonry kitchen", in its workshop on the Via Pontina between the two cities. We do not build it in masonry, but from refractory stone blocks fitted together dry, with a marble or stone worktop and wooden doors: the same look, but without cement mortar or cement. Free site survey and quotation throughout Lazio; we install with our own team throughout Italy and also follow projects abroad.
A kitchen like this, made to measure for you.Free, no-obligation quotation · free site survey in Lazio · 3D design · since 1976
If you are looking for a masonry kitchen in Rome, in Latina or anywhere in Lazio, Michelessi SRL — stonemasons in Aprilia since 1976 — builds it in refractory stone in its own workshop on the Via Pontina, at kilometre 45.350, between the two cities. We say it at once, because it is the point that matters: what you call a masonry kitchen, we build in refractory stone. Not low walls of blocks bound with mortar, but blocks of refractory stone fitted together dry, with a marble or stone worktop cut in our workshop and doors in wood. The look is that of the masonry kitchen of old; the difference lies in what cannot be seen, and it is what decides how long the kitchen lasts.
A masonry kitchen, in the sense meant by anyone who types "masonry kitchen Rome", is a kitchen built to measure on site: short walls that carry the worktop and frame the openings for doors and appliances, in place of prefabricated units. In the traditional version those walls are brick or aerated concrete blocks, bound with mortar, plastered and tiled. It is precisely that part — mortar, plaster, cement — that we have taken away. Here we give the essentials and then talk about where we work, town by town.
Teak-toned wood clads the bases with its warm grain and cradles the steel gas barbecue, which opens its lid to show grills ready for service. The dark counter with its upstand protects and contains, while the integrated sink waits a little further on, beside flowers someone has set down like a good omen. Above, the dark pergola filters the sky; around, the garden presses its generous green to the edge of the decked terrace.
On the meadow rising towards the mountains, the Terra di Siena finish ignites the scene with its burnt red: the kitchen extends its compact volume with the built-in Fògher barbecue sheltered beneath its cover, the sink on the worktop, and a counter turning the corner to welcome matching stools — a declared invitation to cook in company.
The FKC 020 composition distils the Larès to its essentials and gains character in the bargain: two black modules on an exposed frame, the built-in barbecue sheltered beneath its cover, a steel top with auxiliary burner, doors closing the bays below. This is the standard modular kitchen of the Fogher range, sectional and customisable to your needs and tastes: begin here, and grow module by module.
There is an air of a true home in this kitchen: the base in glossy, rustic-grained solid wood carries the pale counter with its white ceramic sink — the deep kind found in family kitchens; above, cream wall units with gentle frames alternate with the open shelves of the grey dresser, where plates and jars live in the light. Under-cabinet lights kindle the worktop, and the window at the back brings in the green of the garden. It is a kitchen with shelves, dresser and drawers fitted with containers: the practical organisation of houses that work, dressed in materials that warm the gaze. Glossy solid wood is the protagonist: alive, grained, resistant, able to age while improving. This is the philosophy of Michelessi's indoor kitchens: made to measure in dimensions and details, solid in substance, with Italian craftsmanship guaranteeing that every drawer glides well today and in twenty years. Because daily life deserves beauty without fragility.
The black column commands the scene like a family armoire reinvented: slatted panels, burnished handles, a dark and authoritative presence between walls of exposed brick. Beside it, a black island with a Laminam top works at the centre, while pale oak bases and wall units lighten the perimeter together with glossy green tiles that catch the light like old enamel. Golden lanterns descend on cue. Fully equipped, this is a kitchen that layers its eras with ease: urban brick, natural wood, contemporary black, artisanal ceramic. The Laminam top guarantees daily service without betraying the aesthetic; the solid wood structure gives the body that important compositions require. It is the layered taste of Michelessi indoor kitchens: made to measure, with craftsmanship that mixes materials the way a good storyteller mixes tenses — without ever losing the thread.
A wall patterned with great grey leaves brings the winter garden indoors, and the kitchen answers in its classic walnut: an island with framed doors and a pale top, a white composition with wooden wall units, an orderly cooking zone. The dining table with its light chairs carries the conviviality onward beneath a woven straw lamp, and a pale floor keeps the scene luminous. Porcelain stoneware cladding assures practical counters, the sink is integrated, the appliances complete. This is the contemporary classic of houses that love decoration without being overwhelmed by it: a single scenographic gesture — the wall — and everything else in balance. The wooden structure carries the build quality that makes daily life serene. It is the measure of Michelessi indoor kitchens: made to measure in centimetres and in taste, with craftsmanship that knows when to decorate — and when to let a room breathe.
The next step
Tell us which one feels closest: we redraw it to your measurements, in the marble or stone you prefer, and send you the design and the quotation free of charge.
Masonry cracks where heat and water are at work: in mortars, joints and plasters. That is why the structure of a Michelessi kitchen contains no cement mortar and no cement: the blocks fit together dry. In three lines:
Even refractory material, however, must be heated gradually at the first firing: the makers of barbecues and ovens prescribe it, and we recommend it too. For the houses of Rome and Lazio, three points weigh most:
| What to look at | Traditional masonry | Faux masonry | Dry-fitted refractory stone (Michelessi) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work in the house | Wet trades, drying days, dust | Dry assembly | Dry assembly by our own team |
| With water | Grout and plaster absorb; frost pushes | Depends on the panel and its edges | No cement mortar or screed to hold water |
| Repairs | Often demolished to reach a pipe or change an appliance | Dismantled like a piece of furniture | Each block taken out and replaced on its own; services accessible |
The full table, with figures and sources, and the comparison between traditional masonry, faux masonry and dry-fitted refractory stone are on the page masonry or refractory stone.
The six factors that make up a quotation — linear metres, stone, doors, appliances, services, indoor or outdoor — are explained on the page how much a masonry kitchen costs.
From Rome, the Aprilia workshop is reached along the Via Pontina, without detours, and our technicians also come to the centre, the northern districts and the coast. The site survey and the quotation are free throughout Rome and its province: from Parioli to Monteverde, from EUR to Roma Nord, from the Castelli Romani to Ostia and Fregene. The houses of Rome put three different questions to a kitchen built to measure.
Anyone searching for "masonry kitchens Rome" often finds general guides and retailers of faux masonry kitchens. What we offer from Aprilia is something else: a stonemasons' workshop that builds the structure in stone, cuts the worktop under its own roof and installs with its own team, on the Via Pontina between Rome and Latina.
Latina lies further south, along the same Via Pontina; Aprilia is home. Across the whole coastal strip and the Pontine plain — Pomezia, Ardea, Anzio, Nettuno, Sabaudia, San Felice Circeo, Terracina, Formia — the site survey is free and the installation is done by our own team. And it is precisely on the coast that the choice not to use masonry shows best.
Seaside houses often call for an outdoor kitchen, or an indoor kitchen that stays shut for months. Damp, rain and the swing between winter and the first fires of spring work on grout lines and plasters; a dry structure has no cement mortar to shrink and no screed to hold water, and any block that should suffer is replaced without touching the rest. For outdoor worktops we recommend granite, quartzite, sintered stone or travertine; marble can be used, with the advice we always give on care and on temperature swings. Barbecues and ovens have a structure of refractory stone blocks; steel is used for the grills, the sink and the technical parts, which in salt air need to be chosen and kept with more care. The pages masonry barbecue and masonry wood-fired oven explain how they are made. To understand which stone goes where — marble, travertine, granite, refractory — see the comparison on the page stone kitchen.
The free site survey applies across the whole of Lazio. In the Castelli Romani — Frascati, Velletri, Marino, Genzano — and in the province of Frosinone the house may be a farmhouse or a villa with a large fireplace and an oven in a niche: it is the masonry kitchen as families remember it, with a stone worktop, solid wood doors and a fire in the house. We reproduce its look with a different substance: a structure of dry-fitted refractory stone blocks; where there is an oven, the dome and the arch are in refractory bricks, laid according to the refractory manufacturer's instructions, and the whole structure around them is dry-fitted. The worktop is in marble, travertine or stone, cut in Aprilia; the doors are in wood, framed or flat. The rustic, country and classic styles are gathered on the page rustic, country and classic masonry kitchen; those who prefer clean lines and neutral colours will find the modern masonry kitchen and the white masonry kitchen. Towards Viterbo and Rieti the road gets longer, but the method does not change: survey on site, three-dimensional design, construction in the workshop, installation by our team.
In Naples and Campania too there are people looking for a masonry kitchen, and from Aprilia we reach the city and the whole region with our own installation team. The same goes for those who search in Milan, Bologna, Florence or anywhere else: they type "masonry kitchen" and find a kitchen built in refractory stone. We install with our own team throughout Italy and also follow projects abroad. The method is the same: the kitchen is built in the workshop — slabs chosen one by one, numerically controlled cutting, hand finishing — and dry-assembled in your home. Outside Lazio we guide you through a remote survey with photographs and measurements, and the three-dimensional design shows you the kitchen in your room before the first block is cut.
Many of the "masonry kitchens" on sale are in fact faux masonry kitchens: clad plywood or plasterboard panels, prefabricated and assembled like a piece of furniture. It is a legitimate choice, with a real merit — it can be dismantled and moved — and an equally real limit: the structure is a clad piece of furniture, not stone. Traditional masonry, at the opposite end, is brick or blocks and mortar, and as a rule cannot be dismantled: reaching a pipe or changing an appliance may mean demolishing. The Michelessi kitchen takes the best of both: the structure is real stone and, because the blocks are fitted together dry, it opens, can be inspected and can be taken apart block by block. The differences point by point are on the page faux masonry, real masonry or refractory stone.
The path — free site survey, three-dimensional design, choice of the stone, construction in the workshop, installation by our own team — is told step by step on the main page masonry kitchens, where you will also find all the styles and models. In Lazio the first step is ours, at your home; elsewhere we start from a few photographs of the room and measurements taken by hand, sent by telephone, WhatsApp or e-mail.
To understand how a design is set out, from measurements to the work triangle, there is the guide how to design a masonry kitchen; answers to the most frequent questions, from permits to cleaning, are gathered in masonry kitchens: questions and answers. To see what this kitchen looks like, there is the Francesca indoor kitchen, with a refractory stone structure, a marble worktop and wooden doors; for gardens and terraces there is the page of outdoor kitchens.
Michelessi SRL is at Via Pontina Km 45.350, 04011 Aprilia (LT), between Rome and Latina; the workshop and the showroom are in the same place. Here you can touch the blocks, see the dry joint, compare the stones in real light and follow the work in progress. Telephone and WhatsApp: +39 06 9275383; it is worth letting us know before you visit, so that a designer can give you the time you need. The stones for the worktop, from Calacatta to travertine, are in the marbles section.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. The site survey and the quotation are free throughout Rome and its province, from the historic centre to the Castelli Romani and the coast. A Michelessi SRL technician measures walls, floors, services and openings; from the survey comes the three-dimensional design of the kitchen, built in refractory stone in the Aprilia workshop, on the Via Pontina between Rome and Latina.
Yes, but the structure is not masonry: it is made of refractory stone blocks fitted together dry. No mortar, no water and no drying days enter the home. The load on the floor slab is assessed at the design stage, as for any kitchen built on site, and the services remain accessible behind the blocks.
It depends on the measurements, the stone chosen, the doors and the appliances: we state the timing in the quotation, after the survey. What we can always say is that the kitchen is built in the Aprilia workshop and dry-assembled in your home, without the drying stages for mortar, plaster and resin that a traditional built wall requires.
Yes: we build the kitchen in dry-fitted refractory stone, not in masonry. Latina, Pomezia, Ardea, Anzio, Nettuno, Sabaudia, Terracina and Formia are within the area where the site survey is free and installation is done by our own team. In seaside houses we recommend a dry refractory stone structure, with no cement mortar or screed in which water can be trapped, and worktops in granite, quartzite, sintered stone or travertine.
Yes, built in refractory stone in Aprilia. We install with our own team throughout Italy and also follow projects abroad: Naples, Campania and Milan are among the places we reach. Outside Lazio we guide you through a remote survey with photographs and measurements; the three-dimensional design shows you the kitchen in your room, then we build in the workshop and dry-assemble on site.
In the Michelessi SRL showroom at Via Pontina Km 45.350 in Aprilia, between Rome and Latina, next to the workshop. You can touch the blocks, see how they fit together dry, compare the slabs of Calacatta, Carrara, travertine, granite and quartzite in natural light and follow the work in progress. It is worth letting us know before you visit: telephone and WhatsApp +39 06 9275383.
No, and it is a deliberate choice. Traditional masonry is brick or blocks bound with mortar and cement, which heat and water crack in the joints and plasters. Michelessi SRL builds the same kitchen with refractory stone blocks fitted together dry, a marble or stone worktop and wooden doors: the look of the masonry kitchen, with a structure that lasts a lifetime.
Faux masonry is a piece of furniture: clad plywood or plasterboard panels that can be dismantled but are not stone. Real masonry is brick or blocks and mortar, and as a rule cannot be dismantled. Ours is a structure of dry-fitted refractory stone blocks: real stone, which opens, can be inspected and can be taken apart block by block, with a marble worktop cut in the Aprilia workshop.
Yes, in refractory stone and not in masonry, and it is a case in which the choice of material matters a great deal. Outdoors, masonry suffers in the grout lines and plasters that absorb rain and damp; a dry structure has no cement mortar or plaster to hold the water, and each block is replaced on its own. Barbecue and oven have a structure of refractory stone blocks; steel is used for the grills, the sink and the technical parts. In the oven the dome and the arch are in refractory bricks, laid according to the refractory manufacturer's instructions, and the whole structure around them is dry-fitted; the worktops are in granite, quartzite or sintered stone.
We do not publish a price list, because the price depends on six factors: the linear metres, the stone of the worktop, the doors, the appliances to be built in, the services, and whether the kitchen is indoor or outdoor. The quotation is free and itemised, line by line, after the site survey. The factors are explained on the page devoted to costs.