A child of Rome and the granddaughter of a Vatican Museum art historian, interior designer Alessandra Branca grew up among the finest classical art and architecture in the world. She learned early that even formal beauty was meant to be intermingled with everyday life, and that the well-lived life takes place not in stiff and somber surroundings, but in artful structures graced with a comfortable elegance and wit. Alessandra divides her time between New York, Rome and Chicago, where she founded her design firm in 1981 and opened her retail store in 2008. Recently named House Beautiful's first Master Class Designer her work is confident, livable and ever-changing.