The Life of Donatella Versace Through Her Magnificent Homes

Donatella Versace, who took over the fashion empire after the murder of her brother Gianni in 1997, still owns or has owned many residences, which she then lost due to a severe economic crisis affecting both her and the company.

After the founder’s death, the atelier house on Via Gesù in Milan was transformed into the brand’s headquarters, and the rest of the estate was divided between Donatella, her brother Santo, her daughter Allegra, who received 50% of the company’s shares, and her nephew, who received the art collection.

The properties in Miami

The first house that the Versace siblings sold after Gianni Versace’s death was the Miami residence, Villa Casa Casuarina. It is a 1930s building designed by Adlen Freeman, inspired by the Alcazar de Colon in Santo Domingo, and which Gianni bought in 1992 when he went to Miami to visit Donatella who was there on holiday. The splendour of the house as a whole led him to buy it, in addition to the presence of a particular statue of kneeling Aphrodite.

In the city, however, Gianni did not limit himself to purchasing only this building, but also bought the nearby Hotel Revere: a building, of no real historical or architectural value from the fifties, with 10 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a swimming pool and magnificent gardens.

The complex, which was reproduced in the series that tells the story of the assassination, was inherited by Allegra and then sold for 19 million dollars, while the furniture, requested by Sotheby’s, was listed at a whopping 28 million dollars.

Villa Fontanelle in Como

Villa Fontanelle, on Lake Como, is a 19th century building that Gianni bought in 1977 in a very poor state of repair and which he restored to its original neoclassical style. The villa was mainly a summer residence where Madonna, Elton John and Lady D were also invited.

Although it was the house to which Gianni was most attached, the heirs were forced to sell it, for the sum of 35 million euros, due to a lack of liquidity. The furnishings and works of art that adorned it, divided into 555 lots, were sold at auction for a total of 7.5 million euros.

Donatella Versace’s latest acquisitions

Donatella officially made a new start in 2013, both professionally and personally. She bought a new house in via Gesù, right next to the atelier, with a sumptuous style, elements reminiscent of Greece and ancient Rome, antiques and fine craftsmanship, pink damask furniture and a bookcase full of photography books.

Donatella’s latest property acquisition is the €5 million purchase of “La Verbanella”, or Villa Mondadori, which was bought by the publisher’s family in the early 1920s. The house is a 1,400-metre building with 30 bedrooms; inside it is also kept the famous fireplace on which all the famous people who have visited the house have left their autograph, from Walt Disney to George Simenon, from Thomas Mann to Ernest Hemingway, thus creating a living memory of the twentieth century.

*Cover photo – credits to @donatella_versace

Article translated by Jasmina Towers

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