La Casa dei Disegni

A 1910s Milanese Apartment by Di Virgilio Veneziano

On a tree-lined street between Porta Venezia and Città Studi, this early 20th-century apartment is the Milan outpost of La Casa dei Disegni—the life project of Luciana Di Virgilio and Gianni Veneziano, the design studio whose work spans furniture, interiors, and a longstanding relationship with the Triennale di Milano. Their renovation was guided by the Japanese principle of kintsugi: rather than erasing the building's age, they made the cracks and scars part of the design. The result sits somewhere between archive and home, with its original materiality intact, a curated selection of artworks on the walls, and a quality of intentionality that comes through in every detail.

The studio's operating principle—that preserving the past is the only credible path to the future—is visible at every turn here. Cement floors from the building's original construction sit alongside parquet laid in the traditional Milanese a spinapesce pattern. Walls carry their age deliberately: textured, worked surfaces contrast with carefully chosen designer wallpapers.

The apartment follows the corridor-led plan typical of period Milanese homes: entrance hall, kitchen, one bedroom with a balcony, and a bathroom with a generous shower and designer fixtures. A selection of artworks, drawn from the owners' practice at the intersection of art, architecture, and design, runs through the rooms. Furnishings combine pieces from the studio's own collections with collectible modern antiques, all chosen for their stories as much as their appearance.

The Giardini Indro Montanelli, one of Milan's finest public parks, is within walking distance, and the Liberty-era streets of Porta Venezia are among the most architecturally rewarding in the city for an unhurried morning walk.

What we love

There's a particular kind of Milanese apartment that improves with age — and owners Luciana and Gianni had the intelligence to leave this one alone, with original cement floors, plug-laid parquet, walls kept rough and worked rather than smoothed over. The neighborhood anchor is Bar Basso on Via Plinio, the 1947 institution that invented both the aperitivo ritual and the Negroni Sbagliato, and has been the design world's unofficial headquarters every April since Salone del Mobile existed. What reframes everything is who your hosts are: Luciana and Gianni are Di Virgilio Veneziano, a studio with work in the Triennale's permanent collection. And this is where they chose to live their practice out loud.

Layout

This vacation home for rent in Milan, Lombardy, sleeps up to four guests. The apartment is on the second floor of a 1910s period building. The entrance leads into a corridor—a classic feature of the Milanese casa borghese—connecting the kitchen, a double bedroom with balcony, a living area with two sofa beds, and a bathroom with a large shower.

Experiences

During Milan Design Week (Salone del Mobile, April), the neighborhood becomes the city's center of gravity for the international design world, and the home is positioned precisely in that current.

Good to know

The building has no elevator, and the apartment is on the second floor. The office/showroom space is not included in the standard rental and requires a separate agreement with the hosts. Per Milan municipal rules, heating operates between 15 October and 15 April, up to 13 hours daily. Minimum age is 18.

Amenities & services

Wifi, washer, dryer (in-unit), dedicated workspace, kitchen, designer bathroom fixtures, balconies (both bedrooms)

Around

Via Donatello sits between two districts. Città Studi, with its ordered, tree-lined boulevards and the Politecnico di Milano, brings a working intellectual energy. Porta Venezia brings everything else: Liberty-style architecture along Via Malpighi and Corso Venezia, the Giardini Montanelli, the GAM (Gallery of Modern Art) at Villa Reale, and the PAC (Pavilion of Contemporary Art) a short walk away. Bar Basso on Via Plinio, the bar that invented the Negroni Sbagliato and has served as the unofficial headquarters of Salone del Mobile since the 1980s, is the neighbourhood's cultural anchor. Via Melzo, a 200-metre stretch that has quietly become one of the city's most serious dining corridors, is nearby. The Lima metro stop (M1) connects the apartment to the Duomo in under 10 minutes.