Casa Luna: an emotional journey

A successful, award-winning lifestyle blogger, Diana is open, inquisitive, spontaneous and caring. She is a traveller who has decided to create a small personal haven in the town where she grew up, a place close to her heart that is filled with childhood memories. Tivoli, an art city located on the slopes of the Tiburtini mountains, is older than nearby Rome and was described by Virgil as “sumptuous”. It also boasts two UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Villa Adriana – built as a retreat for Emperor Hadrian – and the Renaissance Villa d’Este.
Putting into practice her studies in construction engineering and architecture in Rome, Diana personally oversaw the renovation project, which she shared with her enthusiastic followers.
“The name of the project is Casa Luna, or ?Moon House’,” she says. “It felt appropriate because the ancient Romans worshipped Diana not only as the Goddess of Hunting but also as the Goddess of the Moon, and LU-NA is the acronym of my name and that of my partner: we bought the house together. Along with these highly personal aspects,” she continues, “I think of the spectacle of the sky, which changes through the day from blue to the red of the sunset before being lit up by the moon and the luminescence, which I sought to recreate through a choice of neutral coloured materials that would blend with the light. Moreover, being a plant lover, I have a Lunaria with fragrant flowers, heart-shaped leaves and round, flat fruits which turn silver when they dry out and in Italian are known as ?the Pope’s coins’.”
All the spaces in the home are closely connected with the artistic and natural context of the location. The surface covering materials are all environmentally friendly and include ceramic tile for the kitchen, bathrooms and exteriors and wood for the living room and bedroom floors.
Porcelain tiles in the colours white, grey, silver and shadow are used throughout the home, and along with the furnishings and historic objects define the character of the various spaces. Produced by Marca Corona, a company renowned for its 100% Italian-made quality since 1741, the tiles were chosen not just for their green credentials, durability and ease of maintenance, but also for their aesthetic qualities and exceptional versatility, given that they come in a wide range of shapes, colours, finishes and decorations.
A tour of Casa Luna offers a variety of sensations, a kind of journey in search of beauty and emotions. The first stop is the bright, retro-style kitchen with its decorated hexagonal cement tiled floor and marble-effect strips laid in a parquet-style herringbone pattern on the walls. Next is the master bathroom, which evokes the slightly frivolous elegance of turn-of-the-century Parisian cafés with its diamond-shaped cement tiles on the floor and large-format panels inspired by exquisite Calacatta marble from the Apuan Alps on the walls. Then comes the Oriental appeal of the guest bathroom with its small hexagonal tiles, customised with brass inserts. And finally the terrace with its stone-effect paving and a view that stretches from the ruins of Hadrian’s Villa as far as the dome of St Peter’s Basilica and the skyscrapers of Rome’s EUR district.