By 1955, Sophia Loren was riding high. Following her breakthrough role in The Gold of Naples (1954), the actress was charting her ascent and booking jobs opposite leading Italian film stars like Marcello Mastroianni and Alberto Sordi.
A poignant time in Sophia's career, she was also invited to the Venice Film Festival that year, where she stayed in a lavish 15-century palazzo overlooking the Grand Canal.
© GettyStill standing 70 years later, the Byzantine property is widely associated with Old Hollywood, given that it was a favourite haunt of Henry Fonda's too, and as of 2016, it was valued at €5,900,000 by Venice Sotheby's International Realty.
Beloved by literary icon Ernest Hemingway, who is said to have based his character – Baron Alvarito in Across the River and into the Trees – on the palazzo's former owner, the apartment is located in a prime location too, with the Palazzo Fortuny, Campo Santo Stefano, Teatro La Fenice and the Ponte di Rialto all close by.
© GettyEquipped with five bedrooms and four bathrooms, the Venetian retreat can be accessed via a private elevator, and it also comes with a formal dining room, a water gate, a stunning terrace and a courtyard entrance, not to mention three decadently designed reception rooms. Among them, the main 'portego' room is almost 20 metres in length, while the entirety of the apartment is sized at a spacious 4,300 square feet.
During her stay at the palazzo, Sophia took a series of iconic photographs on the stone balcony, which looks out onto the Grand Canal. Captured in a halterneck gown with a fitted bodice and a tulle skirt, the actress, then just 21 years old, gazed out across the water.
The view itself remains largely unchanged since Sophia's historic stay, with the apartment continuing to face the seven-star Aman Canal Grande Hotel, which served as the location for George and Amal Clooney's 2014 wedding.
© GettyIn photos shared by Venice Sotheby's International Realty in 2016, fans were given a glimpse inside the iconic property. Revealing a pale gold colour scheme, the palazzo has been filled with antique furniture, marble busts, grand chandeliers, oil paintings and other statement artwork.
An apt choice for Sophia, who favoured a similar style of interior design, the palazzo's Art Nouveau decor bears several similarities to those that she would later incorporate at her 50-room property – Villa Sara – in Marino, Italy.
© ShutterstockSophia and her later husband, Carlo Ponti, who were legally married in 1957, would buy their home shortly after their nuptials in the Parisian suburb of Sevres. Having promised his new bride "the most beautiful house in the world," Carlo fulfilled his vow when he came across the Baroque-style property just outside of Rome.
