Sophia Loren's rarely-seen home in Switzerland where she raised her family
Sophia Loren has enjoyed a fifty-year love affair with Switzerland. The actress – who hails from Rome – found the closest thing to home in Geneva's Old Town, purchasing a decadent apartment, which now serves as her primary residence.
Reflecting on her move to the neighbourhood in her 2014 memoir, Sophia revealed that she had wanted to find a place where she and her family could "feel safer and live more peacefully." A proud mom-of-two, the Hollywood icon welcomed her sons, Carlo Ponti Jr. and Edoardo Ponti in 1968 and 1973, respectively. They were each born and later schooled in Geneva.
Notoriously private, Sophia, 90, has divulged very few details about her Swiss retreat, which she bought decades ago. She has, however, been photographed inside the stately property, albeit rarely.
Back in 1986, Sophia invited the press into the living room of her Geneva home, where fans glimpsed the opulent crown moulding on the ceilings, not to mention the imposing marble pillars which stood proudly in the background. Opting for regal decor, the A-lister filled the space with a huge, red rug, gold-accent lamps and statement artwork.
More recently, Sophia invited Vanity Fair to her apartment for a 2012 photoshoot. Captured inside her spacious bedroom, the Hollywood star showed off her love of maximalism, with her walls covered head-to-toe in eclectic paintings and prints. Above the head of her four-poster bed, Sophia had hung a large tapestry.
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According to The Independent, one of the rooms in Sophia's home is dedicated solely to her collection of gold statuettes, and the apartment itself could rival Buckingham Palace.
There's no doubt about it, Sophia has lived in some of the most magnificent properties around the world, with the most publicized being Villa Sara – the Baroque 50-room mansion that she and her late husband, Carlo Ponti Sr, began restoring in 1960.
Based in Italy, the 16th-century mansion sat on 18 acres of land, with the ground playing host to waterfalls, a stable, an aqueduct, a tennis court, and an orchard. Following Carlo's death on 10 January 2007, it was reported that Sophia had decided to sell the property.
Sophia and Carlo, who married in France in 1966, accrued an impressive portfolio in their 40+ years of marriage. As well as their apartment in Geneva and villa in Italy, the couple bought a dwelling on Williams Island in South Florida.
"What I appreciate most when I'm not working is the chance to lead as normal a family life as possible," she previously told Architectural Digest. "There's as much sailing, swimming and sunbathing as you could want, and it gives everyone a chance to relax." It's unknown if Sophia still owns the Aventura apartment.
