The little red house

A small gem on the Grand Canal, where art and beauty coexist with family fervor

It has always been known as the “Casetta”, the little house, in spite of the grandeur of its past and its city: Venice. It is indeed rather small as compared to the great mansions on the Grand Canal. The nickname is a case of understatement, in any case, for a house with a lawn and architecture in a Nordic style, desired by the clients who built it at the end of the 1800s – the Austrian prince Fritz Hohenlohe-Waldenburg and his wife Zina.

After inheriting the property, from the 1960s Evelina Levi Broglio made it a place of beauty and socializing, conserving the original furnishings and making only small modifications to the décor, with the help of Piero Pinto. Today her granddaughter Sofia Schapira has kept faith with this approach. «This remarkable fragment of Italy needed conservative restoration, and a new aesthetic code», she says. The renovation was carried out by the architect Daniela Fiocchi, helping to bring out features hidden over time. The new code was developed with the studio Locatelli & Partners, with an eye on past and present. «It is a more contemporary vision of Venice. We have kept the traditional Venetian colors, the yellows and reds, but they are joined by new chromatic “errors”: dark brown, China blue, vivid green», says Sofia’s mother, Emanuela Schmeidler. The new décor relies on excellent Italian design, including fabrics by Dedar instead of the typical brocades. The restored traditional lamps are seen alongside lights by master designers reissued by Nemo».

Furnishings by historic designers like Scarpa, Borsani and Caccia Dominioni, original Venetian glass creations by Barovier, give the house an overall spirit of Italian creativity. Various items have been designed by Massimiliano Locatelli, like the dining table with a brass base and four tops in four different materials.