Studio Giardini

A Richly Patinaed Venice Townhouse, Doubling as a Creative Incubator

Love, one of the owners of this singular home, is a Swedish contemporary artist working with film, photography and installation, and his wife, Paulina, is a photographer. Together, the two found and transformed the space from its previous life, housing a butcher shop, into a place that is sometimes used as an art space for dinners, exhibitions and performative work. Read an interview with them in our Stories section here.

Aptly, there is excellent credibility in the details. Consider the heated terrazzo floors made by Vianello, a seventh-generation Venetian terrazzo maker, and a perforated staircase, and furniture and homewares designed by Love and sewn by Paulina. In the kitchen, you’ll find marble that was salvaged from an ancient abbey near St Marc's Square.

This home is a smart accommodation choice if you’re coming to the island for Venice Biennale, as it is located right by the entrance. Also next to a boat stop, with the beaches of Lido just two stops away, you’ll find yourself within a green residential neighborhood, just behind the oldest foreign pavilion, inaugurated in 1907.

The space can also be specially configured for photo shoots and events. Any way you choose to approach it, an artful occasion is guaranteed to be experienced.

This townhouse in Venice is 90 m² and can accommodate up to four people. It is divided across three floors with a shared romantic and plant-filled courtyard. The top floor houses the master bedroom with a bathroom and a round bathtub. On the middle floor is the living room with a small balcony and a big sofa with a pull-out bed underneath. And on the ground floor you’ll find the fully-equipped kitchen.

OPULENCE AND RICH HISTORY

Comprised of over 100 islands floating among the lagoons, one of Italy’s most glorious destinations is a dreamlike maze of canals and epic grandeur that audaciously reinvented what a great Italian city could be. If Rome is the eternal city, then Venice is its mysterious and ethereal counterpart. 

Awe-inspiring in its opulent beauty and artistry, the city moves at a languid pace where you could spend endless days in its network of canals, narrow backstreets and secret passageways, marveling at its cache of historic treasures (although tourism is at an all-time high and you might want to time your visit wisely). A decadently rich concentration of history is packed within over a dozen boroughs including Castello, San Marco, Lido, Isola Della Giudecca and the outer islands including Burano and Murano famed for its colorful glass artists. 

The grand canal is the city’s answer to the modern highway and the signature waterway leads to the beating heart of the Palazzo Ducale and the famed Basilica di San Marco and square. From the imposing Gothic architecture to the romance of the Renaissance, the city’s classic symbols including the Rialto bridge, the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute and the magnificent Gallerie dell’Accademia are only a few of the wealth of cultural icons.

And if you’re an adventurous spirit, the elaborate and slightly hallucinatory Carnavale kicks off every Spring with fantastical costumes and masks in celebration of Lent. From the gondolas lazily bobbing with the tides, to the marble palaces slowing receding into history, the fact that this magnificent city is slowly sinking lends it a sense of poignancy and longing, and makes it one of life’s must-see stops along the way. 

LOCATION

Venice, Italy. Nearest Airport: Marco Polo International Airport (8.3km)

BEST TIME TO VISIT: Spring through Fall is high season so you’ll want to time your visit to avoid the summer tourist crush as well as the potential rising tide conditions of the rainy season