The House Before the House
When I first stepped into this early twentieth-century home, I had a clear, almost physical sensation: it was not asking to be changed, it was asking to be listened to.
There was silence, but not neglect.
The walls, the floors, the traces of time, each spoke in their own way, quietly yet insistently.
Some rooms had been mistreated by makeshift lofts built to “gain space”, but they had taken away the one thing I value most, the breath of high ceilings.
They felt like rooms that had lost their voice, waiting patiently to be seen again.
They did not cry out, they simply waited.
Rome, Scene Open
Right now, the city is hosting the 20th edition of the Rome Film Fest (15–26 October).
If you’re here for a few days, wandering, visiting, simply letting yourself get lost, you might have already felt it.
Reflections from the Tiber
There exists a parallel Rome, one that isn’t measured in monuments, but in suspended moments.
It’s not made of marathons from one landmark to another, but of patient pauses and sidelong glances.
It’s the city of dawn reflections on the river, of alleyways that guard their silence, of cloisters drawn in quiet geometry.
Inside La Grande Bellezza
There is a moment in Sorrentino’s film when Jep Gambardella says:
“The most significant discovery I made after turning sixty-five is that I can’t waste any more time doing things I don’t want to do.”
Roman stories
Not every journey begins in the same way. Some are measured in miles, others in museum tickets or snapshots collected along the way. But there are journeys that begin between the pages of a book.
My Rome, one step at a time
Much of this blog will follow, though not always, the path of a small guide I wrote and continue to update for my guests. A guide to the everyday Rome, the city I actually live in. Not the postcard Rome, but the one that reveals itself to those who stay a while.
Who I Am (and Why This Space Exists)
My name is Stephanie Fazio. For years I worked in contemporary art, founding and directing a foundation in Rome. Exhibitions, residencies, institutional projects: work I loved deeply, but which at some point was no longer enough.