Corallo - Rome

Accommodates 2 — 1 Bedroom — 1 Bath — Terrace

The Via del Corallo is a little street located about 60 seconds’ walk from Piazza Navona, the heart of historic Rome. The owner himself occupied our flat, and he renovated and furnished it for himself to his own obsessively high standards.

At street level, the rather dingy entry hall to the building is entirely unprepossessing. You just have to get over it. You walk up a few stairs to the elevator which takes you up to the top floor, where our flat is located. You immediately discover that the apartment is at the rear, away from the street. The place is silent. You hear virtually no sounds, either from the outside or from neighbors. This is extremely unusual for Rome.

The first thing you must know about the Corallo apartment is that it is small. It is the ingenious creation of a Roman architect who has made a charming duplex penthouse out of a very small space. You enter directly into a quite good-sized bedroom. This bedroom is lit entirely – and quite sufficiently– by a skylight positioned directly over the (twinnable) matrimonial bed. If it rains hard, you will definitely hear the raindrops pounding on the skylight above. The bed is of excellent quality, firm but comfortable. This room contains a nice desk and chair, as well as an excellent small English-language library. There is a TV which gets BBC world news plus all the regular Italian stations. Off the bedroom is a fully-equipped but compact bathroom with shower over tub; the tub takes a bit of balancing to get into.

Upstairs, you enter into the apartment’s second and only other room, an “everything” room: living, dining, and kitchen, all in one. The “living” part of the room consists of a single loveseat. The “dining” is a small, excellent-quality, dropleaf table. And the kitchen is an ingeniously arranged, fully-equipped affair along the rear wall. Standing at the kitchen area, you enjoy picture-postcard views of Rome from two windows flanking the sink. To the left is a small storage room containing the flat’s clothes washer and a WC so that one doesn’t have to go downstairs to use the bathroom. The “everything” room also contains a CD/cassette player (which sometimes skips).

Off the “everything” room, which is lined with windows, is the flat’s most glorious feature: a lovely terrace enjoying delightful views over the city and furnished with a nice tiled table seating 4 or more. On the opposite side of the room is another smaller terrace, mostly used to hang clothes, but there is also a barbeque here.

One last but very important feature of the Corallo penthouse: It has two air-conditioning units, a big plus in Rome in warmer months.

Within a few blocks of the Corallo, you can choose among dozens of charming outdoor cafes where you can sit outside for hours nursing a single cappucino. There is also a host of restaurants, trattorie, wine bars and pubs within steps of the place, not to mention all other services like banks, launderies, dry cleaners, etc.

If it’s a big space you are looking for, forget it. But if an absolutely charming pied-à-terre with its own gorgeous terrace appeals, you should definitely give our Corallo flat top consideration.