Post on 27-Feb-2023
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words by: Peter Loewe photographs: Magnus Reed.
Nieves Alvarez lives a busy, intense international life with her husband Marco, split between Italy and Spain. She is a genuine Madrileña from a long family tree and he is Roman through and through. She’s an internationally re-nowned fashion model who has worked with all the great designers, he a fashion photographer. Somehow it seemed destined that they should have a life together outside of the
fashion scene and out of the camera lens as well.
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ecause of their work, they’ve been fortunate enough
not to have to choose between Rome and Madrid. Instead
they’ve taken the best of both worlds and created their
very own blend; a hectic life of paparazzi camera lights
following their every move in Spain and a more quiet
family life in Rome where they can even find the time to
visit Marco’s family’s country home outside the city.
Right in the centre of Piazza Ottavilla in Rome, you’ll
find a 1930s building that is a blend of functionalism and
post-classicism. The house is well known in the neigh-
borhood. An old poet, who wrote beautiful, dark poems
about death, used to live on the ground floor. On the floor
above lived a painter who shied away from daylight and
had had all the large windows plasteredover.
At Home in Rome
Today however, the charming penthouse at the top of the
building is suffused with light; that unique Roman light
which kisses marble, pine trees and children with the
same golden intensity. Because this is where Nieves and
Marco live with their three kids. The apartment is abuzz
with life courtesy of those little twin turbos, Bianca and
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Brando. On the small terrace, big brother Adriano, 4, is
washing his toy cars in an inflatable pool.
“The connection with Rome, the love for Rome – it
is so strong,” Nieves explains. It is a love that just keeps
growing, no matter how impractical it may be to pull a
pram through busy Roman streets or how many more cit-
ies you visit. Marco knows. He was actually born here in
the neighborhood of Monteverde, which fittingly means
the “green mountain”, as large parks surround it. Even
as early as his school days, he would often gape at this
large building from the bus window. With a longing in
his young heart? He nods and smiles, revealing that he
kept an eye on the house over the years. When an opening
came, he jumped at the chance to buy.
Design and philosophy
This is not your typical Roman residence – other than
perhaps the façade with its thin rust colored bricks, which
is an updated version of an antique tradition. The inte-
rior bears witness to the traveling life Nieves used to live,
with Bali and New York leaving the most traces. Interior
design is a common interest for this couple. Precious ori-
ental woods like jacaranda and teak meet classic mod-
ernist design furniture. A tiny Buddha bought by Nieves
watches impenetrably over the family and the conjugal
bed on the freestanding loft that is the top floor. This is
actually not so much a traditional family apartment as
it is an ex-bachelor’s pad. However the apartment more
than makes up for the lack of large children’s bedrooms,
with its great charm and style.
With 2000 years of mixing cultures and styles, the
couple’s aesthetic ideal, an eclectic mix based in 1950s
American modernism, feels completely natural in Rome.
In the apartment, well-known interior design magazines
share space with Spanish gossip weeklies, often with the
family on the cover. Even though they can live a quiet life
here, the paparazzi are on constant alert outside their
home in Madrid. But they don’t seem too bothered by the
ever-present photographers, as this is one family that’s
never been involved in any particularly dramatic gossip
stories. The only effect the paparazzi have had, Nieves
says jokingly, is that nowadays Marco always shaves and
gets dressed before picking up the morning paper instead
of after.
Family pictures
Just like any family with small children, the majority of
their evenings in Rome are spent at home. But they do
manage to get away to exhibitions and parties as well,
with the odd visit to a restaurant, or Marco’s relatives out-
side the city or a trip to the movies thrown in for good
measure. Naturally, when they go to the cinema, Nieves’
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A big part of spending time at home is home cooking, of
course. Which, being Italian, is Marco’s responsibility.
Nieves laughingly admits that she cannot cook to save
her life. Marco however can often be found preparing
delicious risotti, stirring them with care and love for 20
minutes, while guests and family socialize in the large
open living room. Strangely enough, pasta is a rather rare
occurrence at this Roman dinner table. Except for when
Marco makes Nieves’ very exclusive favorite dish: fresh
egg pasta covered in thinly sliced white truffle.
That’s why the family, when going back to Spain, often
makes a detour to Acqualagna in the Marche region on
the Italian east coast. That’s where they get a particularly
special white truffle, which is found nowhere outside of
Italy. The truffle is then stored in the freezer, just waiting
for the right moment. In this family, paella can’t hold a
candle to white truffle.
Mixing and matching
Nieves laughs again. She is a fiery Spaniard who loves
bullfighting and gets an ecstatic sparkle in her eye when
explaining that she has just bought tickets to see torero
José Tomás. At the same time, she prefers an Italian white
wine like Vintage Tunina to a Spanish Rioja. Two worlds
– Italy and Spain – have come together effortlessly in this
harmonious family. Which is not hard to understand,
given Rome’s 2000 years of experience in blending differ-
ent cultures and people.
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