Ethimo, the Italian outdoor house grown from a Lazio botanical garden
How a family botanical park outside Viterbo shaped an outdoor furniture house that now works with named designers including Patrick Norguet, Luca Nichetto, Matteo Thun and Christophe Pillet.
Ethimo is an Italian outdoor furniture house founded in 2009 by Carlo Confidati and based in Vitorchiano, a town in the Lazio region near Viterbo. The Confidati family also built the Centro Botanico Moutan, a fifteen-hectare botanical park close to the company's home, and that proximity to a working garden runs through how the house frames its furniture — as objects meant to sit inside a planted garden rather than simply on a terrace. Ethimo has held FSC forest certification since 2016 and builds its catalogue around named-designer collections rather than a single in-house style.
The roster is specific rather than broad: Patrick Norguet designed Knit, a teak-and-woven-rope lounge and dining range, and later Swing, which pairs an outer metal layer with inner teak slats. Luca Nichetto designed Esedra, which mixes aluminum and teak with a synthetic woven fiber, and Venexia, a lighter lounge range with woven details. Matteo Thun and Antonio Rodriguez designed Allaperto Nautic, a teak collection with an artisanal herringbone rope weave. Christophe Pillet designed Baia and Costiera, both part of a yacht-inspired line, and Grand Life, an oversized outdoor sofa series.
The Confidati family also built a fifteen-hectare botanical park next to the company's home — Ethimo designs furniture meant to sit inside a planted garden, not just on a terrace beside one.
A catalogue organized by designer, not by material
Beyond its four headline names, Ethimo credits a wider group of collaborators on individual lines: Cristina Celestino designed Seeds, a set of benches and tables in terracotta and teak; Marcello Ziliani designed Kilt, which grew from a single chair into a full lounge and dining range; Zanellato/Bortotto designed Patio, built on handcrafted woven teak frames; and Gordon Guillaumier designed Phil, the brand's first outdoor kitchen. The attribution runs to structural pieces too — Studio AMDL CIRCLE designed the Cosmo shading pergola, and Studio Adolini developed Out-Fit, an open-air fitness setup.
What the furniture is built from
Teak carries most of the range, in finishes from natural to the pickled, worn look used on Costes. Two named synthetic fibers — Etwick, hand-woven on Cube and Phorma, and Lightwick, used on the modular Infinity system — extend the same idea into weather-resistant weaves. Table tops move further afield: Tama, designed by Valerio Sommella, is glazed ceramic, while Patio pairs teak with marble, travertine or glazed lava stone bases.
For US buyers, Ethimo collections reach the market through authorized dealers, with lead times that vary by line and finish. The full catalogue, with designer attributions, is in our Ethimo profile.