Historic Italian Home: A Piacenza Palazzo Reborn
3 days ago
4 min read
Right in the center of Piacenza, a nineteenth-century palazzo has been converted into a roomy 300-square-metre apartment designed for modern family living. These rooms, once meant for formal events, are now home to a young entrepreneur, his three kids, and their Labrador. Architects Cinzia Russo and Fabio Inzani, who started La Casa di Babette, wanted to make the building’s history feel welcoming and comfortable.
Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce
More families are choosing to raise their children in historic homes rather than in new, closed-off buildings. They see these grand old spaces as great places for family life. The main challenge is keeping the home’s character while making it work for kids. La Casa di Babette had only eight weeks to prove it could be done.
The purpose was to create a “home,” and not just another house, for a family with three kids while remaining elegant in its historic setting. The biggest challenge was letting the children have freedom while respecting the building’s architecture. Playtime needed to feel natural and not be limited to one room.
“The client placed complete trust in us, giving us full confidence. The ideal situation for tackling a project that was demanding on many levels: in addition to the family’s needs, we were confronted with a house of decidedly classical layout to rethink in a record time of just eight weeks.” - Cinzia Russo, founder La Casa di Babette.
Since there wasn’t much time for big renovations, most changes came from new furniture, finishes, and careful attention to detail.
Two main features shaped almost every choice: the Venetian terrazzo floors throughout the apartment and the living room’s coffered ceiling, which has two restored seventeenth-century church portals. In many ways, the apartment’s history influenced the project just as much as the family did.
“Once carefully restored, they became for us a powerful source of inspiration for every single choice of forms, styles and atmospheres”- Cinzia Russo, founder La Casa di Babette.
Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce
Colour plays a big role in the design, inspired by the ceiling’s decorations and the natural shades of the terrazzo floors. Earthy ochres, cream, and chocolate brown fill the shared spaces, with warm hints of red. The two brothers’ bedroom features midnight blue walls and a custom Berber rug in red and yellow.
The girl’s room was designed to be softer, with salmon-pink walls and hand-painted panels of trailing branches beside the canopy bed. Each child’s room has its own colour scheme, chosen based on their personality, but everything still ties back to the rest of the apartment. The home feels like one story, with each room as a different chapter.
Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce
Because the floor plan couldn’t change due to the tight deadline, the transformation focused on individual pieces. In the living room, the fireplace is the main feature, redesigned in sculpted onyx with fabric by Peter Marino. Its curves are smooth and hollowed out to make it light. Every edge was intentionally softened, making this bold piece safe for a home with young children.
“Selecting the stone block whose natural grain was most in harmony with the environment, and then hollowing it from the inside to lighten it, was a complex undertaking. But the effect is warm and scenographic” - Fabio Inzani, founder La Casa di Babette.
Close by, a large double-sided sofa makes the room inviting for both family and guests. It sits next to a brass-and-iron console designed by the studio.
Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce
The kitchen shows the same care toward craftsmanship, just on a smaller scale. Burnished brass fittings stand out against uneven reeded wood panelling, and every detail, from the extractor hood to the bench, was custom-made to fit the small space.
“A compact space that we made autonomous from the dining room yet fully equipped for the needs of the young family, calibrating the proportions to the millimetre” - Fabio Inzani, founder La Casa di Babette.
Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce
That same careful attention shows up in surprising places. In the relaxation room, a coffered ceiling goes with textured materials such as a soft sofa fabric and a jute rug, plus a glowing artwork by Ilaria Lappano on the wall. The long hallway, now with its dropped ceiling gone, reveals its structural tie rods and features a cabinet covered in parchment with sculpted brass handles. Small details like these make the whole apartment feel carefully designed, not just the main rooms.
Eight weeks is a short time to redesign a home like this, and the tight schedule influenced almost every decision the studio made. When asked about the project’s biggest reward, the answer was:
“Managing to meet the deadlines while bringing a measured and interesting contemporaneity to a noble historical context rich in memory,” - Cinzia Russo, founder La Casa di Babette.
La Casa di Babette has made a home that really fits the family living there. The Labrador can roam freely, the three children can play without worrying about breaking anything, and two centuries of history blend seamlessly with daily life. This apartment proves that heritage and childhood don’t have to be opposites. They can work together and shape each other in positive ways.
Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce Contemporary Family Apartment in a 19th-Century Italian Palazzo. Photography by Vito Corvasce
