La Rondinaia

Villa on the Amalfi Coast of Italy

La Rondinaia

View of La Rondinaia from the sea

General information
Coordinates| 40°38′33.875″N 14°36′40.345″E﻿ / ﻿40.64274306°N 14.61120694°E﻿ / 40.64274306; 14.61120694

La Rondinaia is a villa in Ravello on the Amalfi Coast in southern Italy. The property was owned by American writer Gore Vidal from 1972 to 2006.

## History

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Initially, the property was part of the Villa Cimbrone, owned by Ernest Beckett, 2nd Baron Grimthorpe. His daughter Lucy had La Rondinaia built around 1930 and began living there. It is built on the edge of a cliff, hence its name "The swallows nest" (rondine means swallow in Italian).[1] It has six floors and is 600 square metres (6,500 sq ft) in size. The surrounding garden is 4 hectares (9.9 acres).[2]

### Residence of Gore Vidal

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La Rondinaia was purchased by American writer Gore Vidal in 1972.[3] Vidal's longtime companion Howard Austen found the villa through a classified ad in Rome's Il Messaggero.[4] It had four bedrooms, a sauna, a fitness center, and servant quarters.[4] Vidal added a pool to the property in 1984.[5][6]

Critic David Cunningham referred to La Rondinaia as "perhaps the last great author's home/artistic salon".[7] Vidal hosted many notable guests, including Paul Newman, Greta Garbo, Princess Margaret, Mick Jagger, Bianca Jagger, Andy Warhol, Jed Johnson, Bruce Springsteen, Tennessee Williams, Italo Calvino, and Hillary Clinton.[8][9] After Austen died in 2003, and due to his failing health, Vidal posted it for sale around 2004 for around €14,000,000.[6] It was eventually sold to Vincenzo Palumbo, a local hotelier, in 2006.[10]

### Later history

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In 2015, Palumbo offered the property for sale at £20,000,000.[11][12] The villa can now be rented.[8]

## In popular culture

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The villa was one location for the 2004 movie The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.[6]

La Rondinaia to the right. At the upper left can be seen the wall and statuary of Terraza Infinito, a panoramic viewpoint, part of the Villa Cimbrone.

## References

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1. ^ Jones Lang Lasalle, La Rondinaia, sales brochure from 2007, available at Harry Kloman's tribute page, Farewell to La Rondinaia
2. ^ "La Rondinaia, Ravello" (PDF). rondinaia.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-07-26. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
3. ^ "Gore Vidal's Cliffside Palace of Sex, Scandal, and Celebrity". The Daily Beast. 2017-07-22. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
4. ^ a b Pepper, Bill (December 1974). "The Truth about Gore Vidal—Right from Gore Vidal". Vogue. 164 (6): 177.
5. ^ Mewshaw, Michael (1994-01-01). "AD Revisits: Gore Vidal's Amalfi Coast Villa". Architectural Digest. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
6. ^ a b c Giovannini, Joseph (2004-08-26). "For Gore Vidal, A Last, Long Look From the Heights". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
7. ^ Cunningham, David (June 2, 2018). "IN THE SWALLOW'S NEST". Scottish Review of Books. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
8. ^ a b "Spend the Night in Gore Vidal's Ravello Home, La Rondinaia". Town & Country. 2022-06-08. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
9. ^ Bockris, Victor (2009-04-29). Warhol: The Biography. Hachette Books. p. 369\. ISBN 978-0-7867-3028-5.
10. ^ Rome, Hilary Clarke (2006-02-28). "Vidal's cliff-top villa sells for a steep $23m". The Age. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
11. ^ Gore Vidal’s Famed Italian Cliffhanger ‘La Rondinaia’ Comes Up For Sale
12. ^ "House Tour: Gore Vidal's Villa Rondinaia". coldwellbankerluxury.com. Coldwell Banker Global Luxury Blog - Luxury Home & Style. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2019.

## Further reading

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* Cumming, Alan (October 14, 2021). ""We Started Drinking at Six": Sparring and Slurring With Gore Vidal". Vanity Fair.. In which the actor describes a visit to La Rondinaia in 2001.
* Cunningham, David (June 2, 2018). "In the Swallow's Nest". Scottish Review of Books.. In which the author describes a visit to La Rondinaia.
* Tyrnauer, Matt (August 3, 2012). "Vidal's Ravello Redoubt". Vanity Fair.

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