Not Celebrating Birthday Wishlist #2: Houses

Take your seats, relax while sipping a cool drink, and start reading the second post dedicated to my “Not Celebrating Birthday Wishlist”: the new daily appointment that will accompany us until August 10th, actually the date of my birthday that I don’t like to celebrate. Let’s see if through this imaginary journey I’ll change my mind on my 29 years’ party.

Yesterday we got hold of some iconic Gucci by Tom Ford garments, today we continue with another of my obsessions: HOUSES.

First, I’ll make a statement: being an architect and compulsive collector of books, graphics and antique objects; an airy, spacious and well-lit house is the prerequisite for considering and call it “home”.

House in Florence

At the moment my ideal-house should be a 120sqm apartment on the top floor of an ancient Florentine palazzo with elevator and doorman service. Independent heating, double-height living room with frescoed or coffered ceilings, two bathrooms, two bedrooms (one for me and one for guests), kitchen/dining room, and the real gem: a 30 sqm terrace overlooking the monuments of the city, in which welcoming guests both in summer and winter. This obviously is my dream home in Florence.

Palazzo Corsini – Firenze

Hotel Villa Cora – Firenze

Palazzo Medici Riccardi – Firenze

House in New York

Instead, if I had to think about a home abroad, I would choose without any doubt a penthouse in Manhattan overlooking Central Park, like the ones I see in the daily Architectural Digest newsletter. Walls made of glass windows overlooking the urban jungle of one of the liveliest cities in the world. A sunny 200 square meters loft where contemporary artworks blend with antique furniture, iconic industrial design pieces, but also minimalist ones.

Giancarlo Giammbtti’s apartment in New York – ph credits: AD

My real dream for the Wishlist

However, honestly, this year I can’t complain about my houses. Infact, not only I’m living alone again in my own house, but since August 2015 I have become a “regular tenant” of Villa Il Roseto in Fiesole, the home-studio of famous architect Giovanni Michelucci. A real gem set in the hills overlooking the city of Florence, where Michelucci’s handcrafted production of furniture, ranging from the 1920s to the 1980s, is mixed together with the artworks by his artist/friends, who often made the decorations of his architectures.

Giovanni Michelucci’s house – Fiesole

Working in a place like this is such a privilege, and perhaps my real wish is to continue to work there as long as possible, still feeling amazed like the first time I crossed the threshold.

Alessandro Masetti – The Fashion Commentator