IL PALAZZO PENTHOUSE

Il Palazzo Penthouse – Florence

4 Bedrooms (double/twin)– Jacuzzi-tub on the roof

The “Palazzo Penthouse” was built at the initiative of a Noble Florentine Family the Elder in 1489, to the project of Giuliano da Sangallo, in keeping with the tradition of the great Florentine patrician palaces such as Palazzo Strozzi and Palazzo Medici Riccardi, but with a new stylistic approach.

The area on which it stands overlies the ancient theatre of the Roman city of Florentia, which included the entire perimeter of Palazzo Vecchio.

The palace grew up around a monumental courtyard. Its facades are designed in three diminishing orders of rusticated pietraforte. The most innovative feature is the design of the windows, framed by stones radiating out from them like the faceting of a gemstone. Like Palazzo Strozzi, the palace has the outside bench characteristic of the epoch.

The central courtyard is surrounded by a portico on all four sides, with Corinthian columns whose capitals each have a different design. Its elegant seventeenth-century marble fountain was supplied, through Grand-ducal concession, with water coming from the Boboli Gardens, which also feeds Ammannati’s Neptune Fountain in Piazza della Signoria, known as “il Biancone.” Under the portico is a Roman statue from the 2nd century A.D. depicting Senator Macrinus, a great general and founder of the Baths of Florence.

The Palazzo today is one of the few Florentine palaces still belonging to the descendants of the family that built it.

The measured sobriety of Palazzo's facade, designed by Sangallo, contrasts with the exuberance of the courtyard. Although small in size – only two bays by three – the courtyard is striking for its rich sculptural decoration. It is, in fact, one of the most beautiful courtyards in Renaissance Florence.

One aspect of Palazzo's courtyard is traditional; here Sangallo adopted the Florentine style, using arches on columns, rather than the motif of arches and piers he usually preferred. Originally, the top floor had an open loggia with columns and pillars, as could be expected in a Renaissance palace.

A few meters from Palazzo Vecchio, on the roofs at the height of the fifteenth-century belvedere, is the Palazzo Penthouse with terraces that dominate the city, affording a sweeping view over the unique panorama of Florence’s most splendid monuments. In the postwar period, the owners decided to move into the rooms on the top floor of the Palace, in order to enjoy all of its light and its marvelous view over the city.

He commissioned Architect Dori to convert the ancient attic into a comfortable apartment, keeping intact its fifteenth-century Belvedere, which was to remain a splendid observation point with a sweeping view over the monuments of Florence. From the belvedere and terraces of the apartment, the view of the city’s monuments conveys a feeling of airy detachment. The interior combines the charm of a modern lifestyle with the pleasure that only old walls surrounding old things can still provide.

All of this defines the character of the apartment, its tone and its unique features, truly Tuscan in their simplicity and linearity combined with elegance.

In 1977 Amerigo commissioned the architect Porcinai to redesign the terraces. Pietro Porcinai (Florence 1910-1986) was the greatest Italian landscape artist of the twentieth century.

The terrace to the north, in front of the salon, was laid out with flower beds on three sides, raised and decorated with river pebbles on the vertical sides and the bench-like edge in hammered pietra serena, framing a view of the Duomo.

The apartment, recently restored to adapt it to more modern standards of comfort, offers a breathtaking view over the entire city. By night, from its windows and terraces, Palazzo Vecchio, the Duomo, Santa Croce, the Bargello, the Badia, and the lights on the hills of San Miniato and Fiesole appear above the dark roofs of the city.

On the first floor there are the sitting room, the dining room, the kitchen and the night area with 3 bedrooms (1 double and 2 twin but can be double on request), all with private bathroom. Down a flight of stairs there is a fourth bedroom with en-suite bathroom.

Upstairs there are the sitting room, the loggia and the terraces (with Jacuzzi). Also, there is a GYM (tecnogym) available, a single room for a babysitter or a driver.

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