Villa Onda, Prea: furnishing an architect's villa in Brazil, from selection to delivery

At the edge of the dunes that lead to Jericoacoara, on one of Brazil's finest kitesurfing spots, Villa Onda has just been completed. Rua Madeira handled the entire furniture project — indoors and out — from the first selection made on the architect's plans to the installation of the final piece.

Prea, at the edge of the Jericoacoara dunes

Prea, on the coast of Ceará, is one of those places you come to for the wind and leave with regret. A former fishing village, a vast beach swept by unusually steady trade winds, and one of the best kitesurfing spots in the country. Just behind it begin the dunes that lead to Jericoacoara.

That is where Villa Onda was built: a new house designed by architect Frédéric Martinet, its white volumes rippling behind a curtain of timber slats.

An architecture of curves by Frédéric Martinet

Frédéric Martinet designed a house that refuses the right angle. White slabs unfurl in waves, timber brise-soleil follow the curves, and the pool traces its own organic line across a wide cumaru deck. The patios open squarely onto the sky. Three materials, no more: lime render, pale stone, raw wood.

Architecture this precise sets one simple rule for the furniture: contradict nothing. Every seat, every table had to extend the architect's gesture rather than sit on top of it. That was the starting point for the whole project — and the reason every piece was customised.

Our brief: a turnkey furniture project

Furnishing an entire villa on the other side of the world is normally a building site inside the building site. Our job was to make it disappear.

A first selection drawn from the plans

Before the villa was even finished, we worked from the architect's plans to propose a complete selection: volumes, circulation, orientation, the use of each room. The client received a coherent scheme, not a catalogue.

Refining it with the client and the architect

That first selection was then reworked between the three of us, until the whole read as one harmonious scheme: true to the architect's vision, and true to the taste of the person who would live there.

Customisation: timbers, finishes, fabrics and leathers

Every piece was then customised — species and stain, finish, upholstery fabric, leather, weave. Samples travelled between the client, the architect and our workshop until the last approval. This is the step that turns a good selection into an interior belonging to this house alone.

Manufacturing, logistics and installation

Manufacturing, shipping to Prea, installation indoors and out: one point of contact, from the first drawing to the last piece in place

Outdoor furniture: solid cumaru and natural canvas

The deck is the real centre of gravity of the house. We installed a generous outdoor lounge there — two long facing benches in cumaru, natural canvas cushions, a slatted coffee table — sized to hold the scale of the terrace without ever hiding the pool.

On an exposed spot like Prea, outdoor furniture works hard. Timbers, treatments and textiles were chosen as much for endurance as for looks: solid cumaru, fine frames, solution-dyed technical canvas. Low sofas at the water's edge, sun loungers lined along the deck, a lounge corner upstairs — each zone gets the furniture its use calls for, within a single family of materials.

Indoors: natural linen, solid wood and hand-woven seats

The living room opens entirely onto the deck, so the furniture had to hold up seen from outside as well as from within: low-lined sofas in natural linen, armchairs on wooden frames, solid wood coffee tables with open grain. Backrest heights were deliberately kept low to preserve the view of the pool from every seat.

In the dining room, twelve chairs with hand-woven seats and backs sit against the marble top. In the study, cognac leather armchairs bring the only warm, saturated note in the house. In the bedrooms, low solid wood armchairs answer the slatted headboards drawn by the architect.

Why work with Rua Madeira to furnish a villa

On a project thousands of kilometres away, the value is not only in the selection: it is in everything the client did not have to handle. The back-and-forth with the workshop, the samples, the approvals with the architect, the lead times, the shipping, the installation.

One address, one conversation, one schedule. That is what allowed Villa Onda to be furnished completely, inside and out, without the project becoming a burden.

Frequently asked questions

Can Rua Madeira furnish an entire villa, indoors and out?

Yes. At Villa Onda we handled the complete furniture scheme: living room, dining room, bedrooms and study, along with all terraces and pool surrounds.

Do you work from the architect's plans?

That is usually our starting point. We don't wait for the building work to finish: a complete scheme can be drawn up from the plans, which leaves the time custom manufacturing requires.

Can the furniture be customised?

Yes — timber species and stain, finishes, fabrics, leathers and weaves. Almost every piece at Villa Onda was customised for the project.

Do you deliver internationally?

Yes. We handle manufacturing, logistics and installation, in Europe and beyond — from Ramatuelle to Ibiza, from Morocco to Brazil.

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