Skye McAlpine's romantic Venetian palazzo comes to life at Christmas
“I'm lucky that I divide my time between London and Venice,” says Skye McAlpine as she prepares for Christmas in the drawing room of her Venetian apartment. “It's two absolute opposites. Life is slower here, it's unchanged, it's like a time capsule, and that's part of the charm. It really is like stepping back into a different era.” Skye first moved to Venice with her family when she was six, only returning to live in England when she went to university. Having continued to spend time in the Italian city with her mother, who still lives there, she finally found an apartment for herself, her husband and two young sons four years ago.
The apartment is situated in a 17th-century palazzo in the Santa Croce neighbourhood of Venice, and forms part of the piano nobile, or main floor of the original palace. It is deeply romantic, full of frescoes, scrolling decorative stucco, and fabric-lined walls. The first room Skye fell in love with, appropriately given her work was the kitchen. “It was the first room I walked into, this was where I wanted to be,” she says. It's now the room she spends the most time, writing and working out recipes for her books. The freestanding furniture, painted pale blue, adds a distinctly Italian charm to the space, as does the beautiful table which doubles as a kitchen island with its sturdy, well-marked marble surface.
Stretching down a long corridor is a study, a small and incredibly charming chocolate box of a room done out in ‘ice-cream colours’ and pretty stuccowork, a long formal drawing room with walls lined in fraying jacquard silk, and a huge final dining room resplendent in portraits of the Gradenigo family who built the palazzo. The floors are all done out in terrazzo stone, and because of the unevenness of walls and floors, the doors are all hung on special hinges that allow them to adjust to the quirks and still close properly.
There's no doubt that it's a different world to the Victorian house they inhabit in London; with a gut renovation overseen by Ben Pentreath, the London house has interiors designed with the family's needs in mind. “For example,” explains Skye, “the kitchen works in a way that totally suits me, it's all set up to host for friends and it's convenient and comfortable.” In Venice, on the other hand, the kitchen is at entirely the other end of the long, narrow, apartment, “so I feel like a yo-yo when I'm entertaining. In London the house works round us, whereas here, we work round the flat."
As it is a rented apartment, most of the furniture, a collection of pieces accumulated by the family over generations, was left in situ by the owners–Skye compares this to opening up a treasure chest or a dressing up box. The family has worked around it, adding in a few essentials (like a new bed in the main bedroom), plenty of Murano glass, cheerful contemporary accessories, and plenty of colourful tableware from Skye's collection of tableware, Tavola, which she lauched at the end of 2021. “Slowly over time it came to feel more lived in, it came to feel like ours.” Although the fabric on the walls may be faded and fraying, the paintings a little cracked in places, and the apartment subject to the occasional influx of canal water, Skye generally considers that it all adds to the romance of the place. “It's imperfect perfection,” she sums up.
Skye spends about half of the year here, shuttling back and forth from London for school holidays and for the occasional solo trip to work. Christmas in Venice is a family affair, with plenty of indulgent food made by Skye and collected from the city's best bakeries and sweet shops. “I'm absolutely obsessed with Christmas,” she says. “I love the build up, I love thinking about what I'm going to give people, I love wrapping presents, and I love the food.” On the day itself everyone gathers for a breakfast at Skye's house, with hot chocolate and panettone and heavenly Venetian pastries in the breakfast room, and then troop to her mother's house for dinner. The large dining room is perfect for more extravagant gatherings such as Christmas Eve, when friends come over, or New Year's Eve. ‘I love the way that food brings everyone together," she says. “Everything in your world can be crumbling and collapsing, but somehow you can lay a table, and invite friends, and prepare a simple meal, and in that little space is this perfect magical world. It’s such a brilliant magic trick to have up your sleeve.”
Owen Gale1/19The drawing room, which Skye decorates with candy canes, paper chains, and a liberal helping of candles. The cushions on the sofa are from Tapisserie.
Owen Gale2/19Stockings designed by Tapisserie and made in tapestry by Skye's mother for Skye and her sons hang at the fireplace.
Owen Gale3/19The window overlooks the family's private garden.
Owen Gale4/19The walls are lined in a silk jacquard fabric.
Owen Gale5/19A cushion by Luke Edward Hall adds a touch of contemporary charm.
Owen Gale6/19Skye's collection of cookbooks and ingredients enlivens one side of the kitchen.
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Owen Gale8/19Ceramic apothecary jars made in nearby Bassano del Grappa are used for storing coffee, flour, and other ingredients.
Owen Gale9/19This room with its ice cream colours and scrolling stucco is used by Skye as a breakfast room.
Owen Gale10/19The table is laid with a cheerful green gingham tablecloth and a selection of ‘Frutti di Bosco’ tableware from Skye's Tavola line.
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Owen Gale12/19The large portrait gallery at the end of the apartment is used as a more formal dining room.
Owen Gale13/19“More is 100% more,” says Skye. "I don't think you can go too overboard or put too much on the table." And everyone looks more glamorous by candlelight.”
Owen Gale14/19This room leads directly into the drawing room.
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Owen Gale16/19The crackers are from Tavola.
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Owen Gale19/19Italian torrone on the dining table.
