When someone has in mind to buy a house in the historic center of an italian city of art, all the parameters that are usually taken into consideration to choose it, the budget, number of rooms, square meters, the elevator, etc. are turned upside down, especially when the historic center is that of Florence. This is what the protagonists of this story learned the hard way when they decided that they wanted to fulfill their dream of living in a house located in the historic streets of one of the most beautiful cities in Italy.

The search, which lasted almost two years, ended when, by lucky chance, a real estate agent showed them the apartment of 205 square meters, in a ancient monastery dating from the fifteenth century, 50 meters from the Duomo, which made their dream a reality. Living up to then in an apartment with a totally contemporary design, the owners were looking for a historic residence where re-create a classical atmosphere. Even the architecture studio they turned to, MIMESI62 of Florence, has bent its own inclination, modern, minimal and essential to the markedly classic one of the customers. It tooks almost a year to complete the restyling project, the works began in February 2020 undergoing an immediate block due to the pandemic and ended in November 2020.

The apartment needed very few structural work, while it has seen an internal restyling inspired by the atmospheres of the Parisian houses where, alongside the boiserie and pastel tones of the walls and tapestries, antiques have been perfectly integrated, recalling the styles of the various eras through which the house has passed over the years. The element that played a fundamental role in the choice of antique furnishing and classical florentine style accessories and lightings from Bronzetto, historic brass and bronze workshop, was the 18th century fireplace which, as the director of a silent orchestra coordinated all the other elements of the living room, the dining room but also the bedrooms.

Restored and functional to be used normally in everyday life, the fireplace has an architrave supported by Ionic-style columns finely decorated with floral acanthus friezes which are the ‘file rouge’ recurring all over the other furniture and lightings of the house. From the shaped brass plate made to measure by Bronzetto according to the customer’s design as an elegant protection for the parquet, to the style of the floor lamp and the bouillotte of the Luxury Foundry collection, as well as the mirror and the 18-light chandelier dating back to the era of Florence Capital, everything recalls the theme and the acanthus leaf designs of the lintel of the fireplace. The same decorations are also found in the arm of the wall light from the Timeless collection that dominates the bathtub in the master bedroom.

While the white boiserie and the ‘relaxing’ shades of the walls and the precious upholstery have been deliberately chosen from a palette of cold colors, the predominant light gray and sage green, the darker tones and the warm atmospheres are entrusted to the Cuban mahogany of the huge English table dated at the end of the 18th century and to the gold and natural brass of all the lamps in the various declinations, wall lamps, picture lamps, bouillotte and floor lamps as well as purely decorative objects such as the brass and glass trolley belonging to the LUXURY FOUNDRY and TIMELESS collection by il Bronzetto.

Classicism, Florentine style and relationship with the local artisan tradition are the guidelines of the entire restyling, even if is not missing a touch of modernity and technology. In the kitchen, that has the standards of a starred restaurant both in the materials used and in the HIGH TECH accessories. A very high performing material, LAMINEM, a marble sand paste ‘enhanced’ by other chemical compounds that make it highly resistant to scratches and washable with any type of product, has been chosen for floors and tops in bathrooms and kitchens, even this markedly modern choice as classical reference: LAMINEM to an untrained sight, looks like CALACATTA an original Carrara marble. Its dark gray streaks with golden touches and the star suspensions, original of the historic Florentine noble residences, complete the circle, creating a continuity with the classicism of the hall.

Photo by francescapagliai.com