As a child, she lived in a traditional balcony-style apartment building in Calvairate, without a bathroom. As a prima ballerina, she lived in one of the most exclusive buildings in the Quadrilatero.
For about twenty years, Carla Fracci’s apartment at No. 5 Via della Spiga was the home she shared with her husband, director Beppe Menegatti: nearly 190 square meters on the pedestrian stretch of the street.
In May 2016, the entire building was sold at auction for 37 million euros—about 37,000 euros per square meter.
And today, if you’d like, you too can step through that front door.
Via della Spiga, incidentally, is back in the news right now: this November, Ralph Lauren is opening its first-ever store dedicated exclusively to home furnishings here.
It’s the same brand that, since 2021, has occupied the building where Fracci used to live.
Starting bid of 24 million, sold for 37: how the record-breaking sale of No. 5 went down
The building belonged to the Pio Albergo Trivulzio, known as the “Baggina” to the Milanese, which in 2016 put part of its assets up for sale to reduce a debt of about 100 million.
The Italian Revenue Agency had valued it at 24 million.
The bids were submitted in sealed envelopes and opened in the presence of a notary. The winning bid was a raise of over 50%, a figure that news reports at the time described as a record.
4,300 euros a month and a rent hike that was one too many: why Carla Fracci left her home in the Quadrilatero
A few years earlier, that house had made headlines due to the “Affittopoli” scandal: the couple was paying about 4,300 euros a month in rent.
She defended the price; critics called it a privilege.
In 2013, “La Baggina” asked for an additional 15,000 euros per year, and the couple packed their bags.
Menegatti recounted that he had restored the apartment from top to bottom and described it as “the little heart of Milan,” where, in his view, the history of the theater was preserved.
What’s at Via della Spiga 5 today (and how to step through that front door with a coffee)
Since November 2021, number 5 has been home to Ralph Lauren’s Italian flagship store: five floors and nearly 1,500 square meters, including an inner courtyard. There’s no trace left of the apartment, but a coffee at Ralph’s Bar—open every day—is the easiest way to step through that threshold.
Get off at Montenapoleone (M3) or San Babila (M1 and M4), and you’ll be there in just a few minutes on foot.
The new two-story home store, meanwhile, is also located on Via della Spiga, in the space formerly occupied by Tiffany.
And if you’re in the mood to see a ballet after shopping, starting November 14, the Teatro Leonardo will be staging a dazzling production of *Sleeping Beauty*—the very same production in which Fracci played Aurora at La Scala in 1966, alongside Rudolf Nureyev.
