INTERIORS I Rome
This marvellous apartment occupies a residence within a seventeenth-century palazzo in Rome and was meticulously restored by its owner, interior designer Teodora Diana Montanaro, of the Italian studio The Flair Interiors.
For any architect or interior designer, restoring and furnishing a historic palazzo is the ultimate professional achievement—a rare opportunity to engage directly with the history, culture, architecture and craftsmanship of another era. It is the culmination of years of study and experience. Such was the case for Teodora Diana Montanaro, who, while searching for a home spacious enough to accommodate her family of five, unexpectedly discovered the apartment presented in these pages.
This is no ordinary residence. It is located within Palazzo Odescalchi, a landmark Roman palace whose history spans four centuries. Throughout that time, a succession of distinguished owners enriched both its architectural character and cultural significance. Historical records first point to the noble Colonna family, one of medieval and Renaissance Rome's most influential dynasties, from which emerged both a pope and several prominent political figures. The Colonna family left a lasting mark on the palace by commissioning extensive renovations from Carlo Maderno, one of the founding figures of Baroque architecture. Ownership later passed to the noble Ludovisi family, whose close ties to the Papal States further elevated the building's prestige. In 1661, when the palace entered the usufruct of Cardinal Flavio Chigi, it underwent its most celebrated transformation under the direction of Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
One of the defining figures of the Italian Baroque, Bernini designed the palace's magnificent façade, widely regarded as one of the seminal models for Baroque palace architecture across Europe. His design would later influence, among other projects, the Royal Palace in Stockholm, created by Nicodemus Tessin the Younger, one of Bernini's most accomplished pupils. Given such an illustrious history, it is hardly surprising that Teodora Montanaro devoted several years to restoring the apartment on the palace's second floor. When she acquired the property, it was in a severely deteriorated condition. Much of the damage resulted from poorly executed renovations carried out over recent decades, interventions that had concealed many of the building's original architectural features.
For Montanaro, however, this became the project's greatest opportunity. Her ambition was not simply to renovate the apartment but to recover its historic grandeur while creating a home for her family. Following years of research and painstaking restoration, the interiors gradually reclaimed their original character. Elaborately carved timber ceilings were painstakingly restored, while traditional terracotta floors once again became an integral part of the architectural composition.
www.theflairinteriors.com
Photography by The Flair Interiors
Words by Luminița Diculescu
Discover the full version of this story in Volume II.