Ca' Duca Terrace Venice - Apartment

A dazzling apartment with a traditional 'altana' roof terrace, stunningly positioned on the top (third) floor of the palazzo known as 'Ca' Del Duca' and directly overlooking the Grand Canal between Campo Santo Stefano/ the Accademia Bridge and Campo San Samuele/ the Palazzo Grassi Museum of Modern Art in the San Marco district of the city.

The 19th Century 'Ca' Del Duca' palazzo is named after Francesco Sforza, the Duke of Milan, who acquired the much older unfinished building in 1461 from the prominent Venetian 'Cornaro' family who had initially intended to build what would have been one of the largest private palazzo's in the whole of Venice. Work was subsequently abandoned by the Duke (during which time it housed the atelier of famous Venetian artist Titian), leaving only the rudiments of its initial construction which we still see today in the very distinctive chiselled Istrian masonry on the ground floor facade - quite a novelty for Venice at that time and a feature said to have provided inspiration for the design of some of the finest palaces we see in Venice today.

Recently restored with both a discerning eye and an accomplished hand to offer all the comforts of the 21st Century, such as air-conditioning and internet connection, while carefully preserving the calm, unhurried and much-yearned for atmosphere of a past era all too often missing from today's rushed and frantic world, Ca' Duca Terrace sleeps six guests in fabulously bright, elegant and spacious accommodation.

It has a beautiful sitting/ dining room made luminous by the light streaming in from its five well-dressed and west-facing windows with balustrades overlooking the Grand Canal and the Palazzo's equally illustrious neighbours. A truly fine room, the sitting area features gleaming 'terrazzo' flooring, delicate filigree plasterwork, modern art, comfy sofas and period pieces while the dining area to its side is furnished with a clear-topped dining table and iconic Philippe Starck 'Louis' and 'La Marie' 'Ghost' chairs (the latter design notable as the world's first transparent chair!) and an inspired choice for both tempering the traditional and allowing the ambient light to circulate the room unimpeded.

There's a superb vaulted kitchen/breakfast room with feature fireplace - a well-equipped space with all mod cons where the confident colours and rustic style marble-topped work table, dining table, chairs and cushioned church pew seating work in harmony with metalwork chandeliers and decorative heraldic crests in creating the grand and rather 'baronial' feel of a great estate kitchen, while an external staircase opposite the kitchen entrance takes guests to the furnished 'altana' roof terrace offering bird's eye views over Venice and its rooftops.

There are three double bedrooms, each with air-conditioning - two charming and exceptionally well presented doubles of a very good size (one in gentle 'Eau De Nil' with a double bed, the other in ivory with twin beds and chaise-longue and both with terrazzo flooring), two bathrooms with bathtub and, at the top of the staircase, a further cosy double bedroom under a sloping mansard roof with twin beds, a single day bed for lounging, 'limed' floorboards and an en suite bathroom with shower

OUR COMMENT

A splendid new addition to our portfolio of 'Larger Apartments and Palazzi', offering a superior holiday experience to the most particular of guests.

Wonderfully positioned within an exclusive area of antique shops, galleries, restaurants, wine bars and cafes, where everyday needs are catered for by a grocery/delicatessen, wine shop, pharmacy and news-stand, the Palazzo itself is traditionally home to the Luxembourg Pavillion of the Venice Art Biennale taking place in the city every other summer (during odd years).

Conveniently close to the vaporetto (water bus) stops at San Samuele and Sant' Angelo for easy travel around the city and the ‘Traghetto’ gondola ferry crossing the Grand Canal between Calle Del Tragheto (near Sant’ Angelo) and San Toma in the district of San Polo