In 1969, Stefano Ripamonti was feeling good about life. He was in his late twenties, working a glamorous job at an Italian high fashion shoe firm. He’d recently married his childhood sweetheart and the newlyweds were settling into an apartment near the Vatican city walls in Rome, Italy.

While their new home had great potential, the couple wanted to renovate the space to their tastes, so they employed an interior architect-slash-designer. This architect subsequently spent a lot of time at the apartment with Stefano’s wife – reconfiguring spaces, suggesting paint colors and offering interior design insights.