Spectacular Palazzo on the Grand Canal in Venice
Ca' Dario is a 15th century palace located in a peaceful residential Venetian neighbourhood of Dorsoduro, set on the most prestigious part of the Grand Canal.
Located between the Accademia Bridge to the Salute Church, the palazzo close to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Francois Pinault's Punta Della Dogana Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Zattere waterfront.
Its unique facade dates back to the end of the 15th century, when the former gothic palace was remodelled by Pietro Lombardo for the patrician Giovanni Dario, Secretary to the Venetian Senate, diplomat, and merchant.
Awarded a large sum of money from the Republic of Venice for peaceful agreements made with the Ottomans (Turks) that year, Dario commissioned a magnificent Renaissance facade inspired by his long travels in Egypt and the Middle East, decorated with circular polychrome marbles inlays made of Pietra d'Istria.
The rear facade on the Campiello Barbaro retained its Gothic trefoil arches, chimneys, and loggia terrace.
In the late 19th century, the palazzo was bought by Countess Isabell Gontran de la Baume-Pluvinel, who restored the 10,763 square feet of interiors with a Renaissance flair.
The palazzo is spread across 4 levels with a ground floor, two nobles floors, and a top level offering 8 bedrooms of accommodation.
The magnificent palazzo is an icon on the Grand Canal, and inspired the French painter Claude Monet who painted a series of four paintings of the Palace in 1908.
In the 15th century, its first owners, the the daughter of Giovanni Dario, Marietta Dario committed suicide after her husband Vincenzo Barbaro claimed bankruptcy.
A series of following owners went bankrupt or died at the palazzo, and in the 1970s the property was purchased by Christopher Lambert who was the manager of the WHO band.
His drug addiction worsened living at the palazzo, and he would sometimes stay at a local hotel to ‘escape the ghosts’.
Lambert sold the palazzo to Fabrizio Ferrari, whose sister soon died in a car crash, while he himself went bankrupt a few years later.
It’s rumoured that Woody Allen was talked out of purchasing the palazzo in the 1990s because of the alleged curse. In 2002, John Entwistle, the bassist from The Who, died a week after staying at the palazzo for a vacation.
All photos belong to the listing agency.
