La Rondinaia, Mediterranean villa in Ravello, Italy
La Rondinaia is a private residence in Ravello featuring six stories across roughly 600 square meters of living space. The property includes floor-to-ceiling windows, arched loggias and multiple terraces overlooking the Gulf of Salerno, along with seven bathrooms and various reception areas.
Lucy Beckett, daughter of a wealthy businessman, had the villa built in 1930 as an extension of the neighboring Villa Cimbrone. The residence emerged as an ambitious construction project on an extremely steep hillside above the sea.
Gore Vidal owned the property from 1972 to 2006 and transformed it into a gathering place for artists and writers from around the world. The villa became a symbol of cosmopolitan living on the Amalfi Coast.
Access is via a narrow road through Ravello, and the grounds sit on a steep hillside with significant elevation changes. Visitors should expect uneven pathways and tight outdoor spaces, and should verify local access conditions beforehand.
Workers during construction were lowered by ropes from cliff edges to build the residence 300 meters above the Mediterranean. This hazardous building method was necessary because the site was so steep and exposed.
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