She had lived in a villa in the Celio neighborhood spanning nearly 1,000 square meters and in a penthouse at Palazzo Altieri.
And yet, for the last years of her life, Anna Magnani chose an apartment of about 60 square meters on Via Margutta, in the Campo Marzio neighborhood.
Fifty-three years after her death, everything is still there: the 1956 Oscar, the awards, the portraits. And there is a room that no one has ever touched.
AD Italia showcased Anna Magnani’s home in an exclusive feature. It has remained just as it was, as if Nannarella had stepped out for a moment and were about to return.
It is cared for by her son Luca, an architect, who still lives there today, far from the spotlight.
An Oscar without a display case, awards lining the stairs, and a bedroom that no one has touched since
As soon as you walk through the door, you’ll find a velvet wall with a dedication from Bette Davis, written when Visconti’s *Bellissima* premiered in New York.
The Oscar for *The Rose Tattoo* sits nearby, by the entrance, without a display case or any fanfare.
Her other awards—from the David di Donatello to the Coppa Volpi to the Silver Bear from Berlin—are scattered along the staircase built specifically for the house.
The room that remains truly untouched is the bedroom. On the 19th-century dresser, her collection of ceramic figurines of her beloved cats and dogs still sits.
Portraits by Renato Guttuso and Carlo Levi gaze down at her from the walls.
From a 1,000-square-meter villa to Picasso’s former studio: why Nannarella chose 60 square meters
Among the homes of celebrities in Rome, hers stands out for what it lacks: no garden, no grand halls.
Many of Magnani’s colleagues sought refuge in the villas along the Appia Antica. She wanted to stay in the heart of the city where she had grown up, among the people, alternating between her home in Rome and her villa at Circeo.
Instead, she chose a former artist’s studio on two levels, with soaring ceilings and a terrace overlooking Villa Medici.
Gregory Peck at number 51 and Fellini a few doors down: Via Margutta, the street of famous Roman homes
Outside the front door, the street is a slice of cinema. At number 51 was Gregory Peck’s apartment in *Roman Holiday*; Fellini and Giulietta Masina lived here; and since 1953, the street has become an open-air gallery thanks to the “100 Painters” exhibition.
Anna Magnani’s home on Via Margutta is private and not open to visitors—and rightly so.
But the next time you’re passing between Via del Babuino and the Pincio, slow down. From one of those terraces, every evening, Nannarella would fall asleep gazing at the rooftops of her Rome.
