Palazzo Volpi

This marble-laden Venetian palace has stood since at least the 16th century and once served as a muse for the celebrated streetscape painter Canaletto, but had spent most of its last 100 years quietly sinking into the fabled lagoon. But under the aegis of Paris-based designers Ms Anna Covre and Mr Frederic Tubau, it has been repurposed as three lavishly appointed independent apartments, each purposefully decorated with custom-built furnishings, carefully curated ornaments and a working kitchen. It offers the perfect bolthole, where – in a compact city, where everyone is always on top of each other – privacy is the ultimate luxury.