AT HOME IN ROME AT THE DYNAMIC ENTREPRENEUR'S PALAZZO PENTHOUSE: VIOLA MELPIGNANO ON TRANSFORMING A HISTORIC BUILDING AND HOW HER FAMILY MADE PUGLIA A HOTSPOT

From Viola Melpignano’s penthouse in her family’s palazzo, she can see the whole of the Eternal City spread out beneath her

- NANA BOTTAZZI

Stepping out onto the Piazza San Lorenzo, she has all the splendour of Rome on her doorstep. And the doorway itself is quite something, because right there are the remains of the Ara Pacis, built in 13BCE to honour the Emperor Augustus.

In fact, the Melpignano name is synonymous with exclusive locations. As well as San Domenico House hotel in London, Viola’s family created Masseria San Domenico and Borgo Egnazia in Puglia, the gorgeous settings for Madonna’s birthday celebrations, Tom Cruise’s holidays and Justin Timberlake’s wedding.

Viola is equally dynamic. Since she lost her husband, industrialist Andrea Merloni, two years ago, she has coped with her grief by throwing herself into his business and travelling constantly from country to country. But she always returns to her Italian roots and to her unique Roman home, as she explains here.

Viola, tell us about the Palazzo Fiano. 

“It is a beautiful 18th-century building, and extra special because, when they forged its foundations, they found the ruins of the Ara Pacis. You can see the bas-reliefs embedded in the walls.” 

How long has your family lived here? 

“Since I was 15. It was my mother Marisa who found our first apartment and later, on her advice, my father Sergio bought two more in the same building: the three-storey penthouse, which my parents gave me as a wedding present, and the neighbouring flat, which belongs to my elder brother Aldo.”