Sophia Loren and Carlo Ponti shared this villa on the Appian Way

The partnership of Sophia Loren and Carlo Ponti extended beyond marriage into one of Italian cinema’s most influential producer-actor collaborations. Moving between international film sets and Rome, Ponti produced many of Loren’s defining performances, including in Two Women, which helped her establish a global reputation while remaining Italy’s own.

Now the couple’s former Roman retreat is listed for sale (the price is available upon request). Embedded within the historic terrain of Rome’s Via Appia Antica, the villa occupies a raised volcanic shelf formed through ancient basalt excavation. Deliciously private, wrapped in mature greenery and shaped by centuries of geological and cultural history, it prioritises outlook and seclusion while remaining within easy reach of the city centre.

The main property was designed by local architect Busiri Vici at around 800sqm, arranged across two levels connected by a lift and staircase, with access to a roof terrace. Interiors are arranged to open directly onto planted courtyards, maintaining a constant relationship between architecture and garden. The vast central hall is divided into three interconnected spaces, anchored by fireplaces and garden-facing openings. Five bedrooms are all ensuite, accompanying a library, winter garden and service quarters planned with emphasis on proportion and spatial flow. All the rooms are designed with a restrained palette of stone, plaster and timber, allowing scale and proportion to lead. Antique marble fragments and archaeological artefacts, some over 2,400 years old, are placed throughout without theatrical emphasis.

A former stable has been converted into a secondary 700sqm residence with a large loft-style volume opening onto the landscape. The surrounding 14,000sqm garden, designed by a landscape architect who owned the property, functions as a natural amphitheatre dense with planting and, naturally, deeply private.