Piano Nobile
You'll have to step up to get the full picture of this main living area in a home
A piano nobile, Italian for "noble floor," is the main level of a house, raised above a ground floor. It is where the larger and more public rooms, such as the main living and dining rooms, are located.
While the term is aptly used to describe classical villas, such as the Villa Rotunda by Palladio, it can be used to describe a raised first floor in a more contemporary home.
While the term is aptly used to describe classical villas, such as the Villa Rotunda by Palladio, it can be used to describe a raised first floor in a more contemporary home.
The main living levels of many 19th-century row houses and brownstones are raised a half or full story above the street level. The kitchens, storage areas and utility rooms were traditionally on the ground-floor level. Raising the main level creates a separation between activities on the street- and main-level rooms, allowing the latter to have larger windows
A raised main level, or piano nobile, is also used in some modern architecture, such as Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye. This iconic home on the outskirts of Paris is quite modernist yet relies on the classical arrangement of a ground-floor level, or basement, below a main level, followed by an upper-level attic."
Homes in coastal areas prone to storm surges are often designed to have a piano nobile above utility spaces such as garages and storage, to prevent flooding of the main living areas.
While the ground-floor level of classically designed houses has been used for storage, for kitchens and even as barns, a home that has a piano nobile can be renovated so that this lower level can be put to a different use. For example, a storage area can become a playroom or family room with the installation of larger windows.