Inside Homes - Washington Life - October 2013

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8LI -XEPMER ;E] Italian Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero and his wife Laura Denise make diplomacy a social art

BY ANNE KIM-DANNIBALE PHOTOS BY TONY POWELL

HOME LIFE | INSIDE HOMES

Italian Amb. Claudio Bisogniero and Laura Denise Bisogniero

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ince Italian Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero and his wife Laura Denise arrived in January of 2012, the charismatic couple has cut a wide swath in social circles, not only becoming reliably familiar faces on Embassy Row, but flawlessly executing one star-studded event after another at their residence as well as their embassy, culminating this spring with Opera Ball, which created a stir due to the unprecedented attendance of Vice President and Mrs. Biden.

“To work as an ambassador here you need traditional skills but you must also reach out to a wider audience,” Mr. Bisogniero says. “You need to be more dynamic, visible and active. Reaching out and doing events with Washington society becomes that much more important.”

There’s plenty of work to be done as the ambassador — a font of energy — rattles off a seemingly unending list of projects, from a study abroad program for American high school students and restoring a 1920s player organ to his government’s biggest thus far: a year-long “Italy in U.S.” cultural initiative, which last month brought Leonardo da Vinci’s rarely seen flight codex to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.The latter, the ambassador says, is one among 300 programs across the United States designed to not only encourage cross-cultural understanding, but spur economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic.

“They’ve been on top of everything from the minute they touched ground,” says Willee Lewis, executive vice president of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation, who has known the Bisognieros since the 1990s. “They entertain with such charm, grace and elegance.They have met the high standards set before them and are devoted to civic, cultural and arts events in the community.”

It helps that the ambassador has at his disposal an imposing diplomatic tool in Villa Firenze, whose majestic grand salon, dining room and sprawling 22-plus acres of grounds has played host to some of the city’s most “A-list” events.

Much about the Tudo-style mansion is already well known.

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OPENING PAGE: The great hall — Laura Denise Bisogniero’s favorite in the three-story, 59-room residence — bears much of its original Tudor features with Italian touches such as a 15thcentury Sandro Botticelli oil.

PREVIOUS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: The drawing room where many social engagements have occurred was formerly blue-gray, a specific shade the original owner Polly Guggenheim Logan personally mixed. The murano chandeliers and 18th-century Venetianstyle mirrors have remained since the Italian government purchased the property in the lat 1970s. Ambassador and Mrs. Bisogniero stand proudly next to their 19th-century camera obscura. The 1920s aeolic organ was uncovered in the minstrel gallery and recently restored to playing order. It debuted in February of this year before a group that included several Supreme Court justices. The Barocci oil comes from Laura Denise’s family collection, which goes back to the 17th century.

THIS PAGE, FROM TOP: Several nooks in the salon provide a cozy corner for quiet conversation during festive evenings. The 1927 bowling alley — one of two in Washington with the other in the White House — has never been photographed.

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Its provenance as a center of glittering society parties during previous ownership by the O’Brien and Guggenheim families and its eventual sale to the Italian government in 1976 are wellrecorded highlights in history books.

Since then, not much has changed in its physical appearance. From year to year, envoy to envoy, the English architecture and Italian décor have mostly been preserved with only a few personal mementos from each new representative on display. For Laura Denise and Claudio, whose families hail from Fabriano in the Marche region and Rome, respectively, these items include a sonnetto, or wedding poem, composed by friends, family oil paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries, and a working 19th-century camera obscura — the couple’s first purchase shortly after they were married — which hints at the ambassador’s skills as a photographer.

The residence’s life as a buzzing center of society also remains the same, though with the arrival of Italy’s newest representatives it has gone into high gear. Not a week goes by when the couple isn’t hosting or planning an event. In between, they have also brought new causes of their own to champion — parks and natural spaces for Laura Denise and classical music for the ambassador.

It might seem as though it’s all work and no play, the Bisognieros manage to find some free time in between working breakfasts, luncheons and dinners.Those rare moments are spent exploring Washington, which they say has changed considerably since Mr. Bisogniero was last stationed here from 1992 to 1996 as first counselor for economic and commercial affairs. “It’s become much more interesting from a cultural point of view,” Mrs. Bisogniero notes. “In 1992 Arena Stage was only a small thing and Strathmore was not there.” Her husband adds that “Washington is much more international than in the ’90s and culture has exploded in a spectacular way.”

They’ve also kept in touch with the many friends they made all those years ago, visiting at one another’s homes for “ice cream and spaghetti,” Mrs. Bisogniero says, “in the Italian way.” As if on cue, she offers up some homemade gelato at the end of a recent interview, and as countless others have found, it’s impossible to decline the invitation.

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Greatest Hits A highlight of the Bisognieros’ most glittering events SEPT

– Opening of Leonardo’s Codex on the Flight of Birds, Smithsonian Air and Space Museum MAY – Phillips Collection Gala APRIL – Washington National Opera Ball MARCH – Elle Magazine and Gucci celebrate 10 Washington luminaries JANUARY

– Jeremy Filsell concert inaugurating Villa Firenze’s restored 100-year-old organ

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