PIAZZA SUITE

Eric Egan, an interior designer of both homes and leading hotels, creates his own turnkey pied-à-terre in Milan.

- Paola Singer

When Eric Egan began a renovation of his Milan apartment, he looked to hotel design for inspiration. After all, through his firm L'Artigianato, Egan is the man behind the decor of some of the world's most beautiful hotel rooms-from those at the Mandarin Oriental in Lake Como to the Dogaressa suite at the Hotel Cipriani in Venice. And since he spends only part of the year in Milan he has another home in Punta del Este, Uruguay, the hometown of his husband, Diego Cuña, and projects that have him hopping from New York City to Parisit made sense to think of his Italian apartment as a pied-à-terre. "Much like a hotel suite, it is really for my personal use," he says. "When I entertain, I do so in our showroom down the street."

Location is everything, of course, in both lodging and homes. In 2005, Egan found his dream flat in an 1890s building across from one of his favorite Milan landmarks-the Sforzesco Castle, a 15th-century fort that holds works by Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. The redbrick castello abuts Parco Sempione, a charming expanse of meadows and groves planted in the style of an English garden.