Bamboo Bookcase

What does one give a princess who already has a palace? In 1840, Prince Filippo Andrea Doria Pamphilj gave Mary Talbot a bathroom. Opened to the public for the first time, the Nymphaeum of Diana is a compact fantasia of allegorical décor hidden inside one of Rome’s grandest houses. Emma Becque and Isabel Bronts take a tour.  

From a jewelled binding for the first Kelmscott Press edition of The Poems of William Shakespeare, to a recently rediscovered Gauffier masterpiece, we explore the TEFAF directors' highly curated selection of masterpieces from this year's Fine Art and Antiques Fair in Maastricht.  

Across São Tomé Principe’s volcanic hills, abandoned plantation estates (roças) lie abandoned, relics of the African island state's once-prosperous cocoa empire. It's a place where colonial ambition, coerced labor, and sudden independence collided. Crumbling verandas, silent machinery, and encroaching forest reveal the island's layered passage from grandeur to ruin, finds Harrison Thane.

In their distinct ways, history's great hosts remind us that successful hosting is not about spectacle; it is about stewardship of beauty, conversation, culture, and memory. To mark Cabana's new homewares collection, inspired by four inspirational hostesses, we are looking back at their lives and style. To reflect on their legacy is to remember that true glamour does not lie in being seen, but in how exquisitely one sees, and welcomes, others.

Austrian designer Catherine Bruckner, co-founder of New York-based design studio Casalta, may live in an elegant apartment on Fifth Avenue but her native Vienna will always call her home. Catherine shares her favorite spots in the Austrian capital, from restaurants and coffee shops serving Viennese classics to beautiful shops, museums, parks and lesser-known treasures.

Photographer Sam Parkes has spent 13 summers on a hill farm on the north-west shores of Loch Lomond, joining farmers and their dogs to gather wild hill sheep from vast Highland slopes. Walking miles of rough ground, he reflects on the drama of the gather, the shared meals, the sense of communal purpose and the inexorable pull of the Scottish landscape.

Born and raised in the wilds of East Africa, Anna Campbell is a neuroscientist turned filmmaker who now runs a thoughfully-designed off grid retreat on the magical island of Lamu, Kenya. She shares her favorite markets, restaurants, museums (and more) from a small island that draws a discerning, creative crowd.

With Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art, the V&A examines a designer who refused to separate fashion from art. Spanning early experimentation to the house’s most iconic creations, the exhibition reveals the rigour beneath the spectacle. Senior fashion curator Sonnet Stanfill talks Cabana through eight works that define Schiaparelli’s legacy.

Founder of Moltoitaliano and Molto Collectibles, Rome-based entrepreneur and collector Lorenzo Bassetti, has spent the past two decades cultivating a personal vision of Italian culture – one that moves fluidly between art, design, craftsmanship and everyday life. Lorenzo shares the story of two important objects that have passed through his hands: his greatest find and the piece he'll keep forever.

A monthly guide to the events and exhibitions on Cabana's Radar: a global cultural bulletin and a must-read for anyone looking to keep their finger on the pulse of art and design. Read on to discover our March highlights. A preview is available here for all, while the full global cultural bulletin is exclusively available on our Substack.

Between Gabon and the equator lies São Tomé & Principe, a small island state where 16th-century forts and tiled villas – remnants of its colonial past – stand crumbling and untouched by tourism. This makes the island's capital feel like a time capsule of Atlantic trade and plantation wealth, amid jungle cliffs and black-sand beaches, finds Harrison Thane.

Dynamic and lively, Lima’s spirit is defined by a melting pot of Peruvian arts and traditions, an effervescent cuisine that has gained world recognition, and the breeze of the Pacific Ocean which underlines its landscape. Rebeca Vaisman, who divides her time between Lima and Barcelona, shares her ideal weekend itinerary.