'Stone Pines'
Client: Westmont
Designer: Veronica Givone
Located in the heart of Via Veneto, built in 1900 originally to host ambassadors staying in Rome, before serving as the American Embassy Library in 1946, a truly historical building, an icon of "La Dolce Vita". The newly refuribished hotel by Veronica Givone features 160 rooms and suites styled with intriguing warm tones, natural materials, combining neo-classical details with contemporary design, an interesting conceptual context for Rankle's paintings.
Via Vittoria Venito was built in the 1880s, during a real estate boom subsequent to the annexation of Rome to the new Kingdom of Italy. In the 1950s and 60s, Via Veneto acquired international fame as the centre of la dolce vita "the sweet life", when its bars and restaurants attracted Hollywood stars and jet set personalities such as Audrey Hepburn, Anita Ekberg, Anna Magnani, Gary Cooper, Orson Welles, Tennessee Williams, Jean Cocteau and Coco Chanel. The 1960 film La Dolce Vita by Federico Fellini immortalized Via Veneto's hyperactive lifestyle, lights, and crawling stream of honking traffic. Some of Rome's most renowned cafés and five star hotels, like Café de Paris, Harry's Bar, Regina Hotel Baglioni, and The Westin Excelsior, Rome, are located in Via Veneto. The Embassy of the United States, housed in Palazzo Margherita, is located along the avenue.