HOUSE TOUR | ROOMS & GARDENS | WORLD OF CABANA
Step inside the enchanting Roman home of architectural historian Giada Lepri, an historic space where tradition and personal style intertwine in perfect harmony. The carefully restored 18th-century apartment, near Piazza Farnese, is brimming with Italian character, hidden treasures, and a rich story still partly to be discovered.
BY SARA PIERDONÀ | ROOMS & GARDENS | 7 FEBRUARY 2025
Giada Lepri's beautiful home in Rome has been designed without compromise. "Almost without," she says with a grimace, alluding to her outrage that the installation of air conditioning has altered the 18th-century shell of an otherwise perfectly restored house. Giada teaches Restoration and History of Architecture so, naturally, had realised the potential of her apartment near Piazza Farnese.
Although layers of history had disguised its pure authenticity, certain qualities were evident: overlooking a piazza made the rooms extraordinarily bright, and the historical façade had not been undermined by terraces, as is the case with so many other post-war Roman palazzi. Furthermore, the vast staircase in the entrance testified that the building's foundations were 16th century.
Other happy discoveries occurred during the 18-month restoration. The removal of the false-ceilings expanded the rooms, while Valentina La Rocca - tasked with finding out what lay behind the heavy layer of yellow paint covering the doors and shutters - uncovered magnificent drawings with motifs of amphorae and masks. A closer study of the property's history also revealed it was once home of Giulia Farnese, the famous mistress of Pope Alexander VI.
Giada’s choice was to fully respect the character and age of the house: “I received a lot of advice to desist - including that of my four children, who called for a more comfortable, warmer house, with larger bathrooms and state-of-the-art windows and doors. But my husband and I have always believed that the original layout of a house should be respected almost to the letter. To deviate, and implement a forced modernisation, for example, means upsetting a balance that can no longer be restored."
Having seen this happen "many times in many houses", she was determined to avoid the pitfall, focusing instead on conservation. The couple made targeted pilgrimages across Italy in search of period cement tiles suitable for redoing the floors, and approached friends with cellars full of forgotten treasures. Craftsmen worked to perfectly replicate the coffered ceilings, painted in the 18th century manner, while Giada scoured markets for cast iron radiators.
What characteristics of an 18th-century town house had to be respected? “Until the first half of the 17th century, the piano nobile (main floor), with its high ceilings and frescoes, could only be one. In the 18th century, due to families growing in size and the need to create space for the demanding ‘tourists’ brought by the Grand Tour, a second piano nobile appeared - which is what we found. In those days, the houses did not follow the division of rooms that we now take for granted, but had a floor plan that presented itself as a regular succession of rooms, all lined up on the façade."
Regarding the decoration, Giada confesses to a weakness for textiles, which she retrieves from around the world or dyes herself. As a consequence, her furniture is often ‘dressed up’. The house was also ideal for accommodating objects that had failed to find their place in previous homes: antique furniture inherited from her husband's family, and a collection of Grand Tour-themed prints, acquired over a lifetime and now in their most congenial context.
The room that most needed character was the "very dark" kitchen. Giada was inspired by traditional 19th-century kitchens (of which we have much more evidence than those of the previous century) and noticed these kitchens had only a few elements: a worktop, a table in the middle, and a lot of pots and pans. "As a personal touch, I added my own collection of ceramics, which together with the 18th century drawings and textiles are part of my collecting obsessions.”
Although Giada likes to portray her house as a mere salvage operation, it is clear that the inventiveness and personal taste required for the project is much more developed than she lets on. “What I have realised is that, basically, I want my houses to be like stage sets. It often happened when I was a child that my parents' houses were lent out for filming. I remember very well that the intervention of the set designers would leave me astonished and enchanted: they would move some furniture, add a few objects, and the house would be completely transformed”.
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