The James is not simply a hotel, it is a hidden home/dome, an intimate retreat in the heart of Florence where time seems to slow down and reality fades/fades into dreams. It is a place where architecture becomes storytelling and hospitality takes the form of an experience to be lived with slowness and wonder. Every detail – from the materials to the light – accompanies the guest in a discreet and profound tale. This is the vision of James, architect and demiurge (creator) of the restyling project, who transformed the home of his childhood into a temple of beauty and silent storytelling. In this 16th-century palace, each room and suite is a small world, a self-contained narrative made up of chosen objects, custom-made furniture, rare fabrics and calibrated lighting. The journey is not only a physical one, but also an emotional one: one enters to rest, one stays to remember.
In a quiet and discreet street, far from the noise but within walking distance of Florence’s most iconic sites, The James inhabits Via di Mezzo with the grace of one who knows how to value time.
A few steps away, the Basilica of Santa Croce holds the memories of Michelangelo, Galileo, Giotto. Further on, Dante’s house, Brunelleschi’s dome, the perfect geometries of Palazzo Vecchio, the Uffizi galleries. Florence is all around, but never intrusive. The neighborhood has the slow pace of those who know authentic beauty among the stalls of the Sant’Ambrogio Market, the scents of the earth mingle with the voices of the morning. In Piazza dei Ciompi, among antique stores and the old Loggia del Pesce, one finds a precious, Florentine idea of everyday life.