Seller Story: Nashville, TN

I was born in Nashville, but my family spent half of the year in Arezzo, Tuscany, where we had a home. I met my husband there when I was six years old; his family had a restaurant in the center of town. They’re Sicilian, but when he was 12 they moved from Catania to Tuscany, because the mafia had made Sicily too dangerous. The women in Sicily had beautiful things, but they couldn’t walk out of their houses wearing them because of fear of being robbed or traced. My favorite piece of jewelry in the sale is actually something that was never worn: a massive 196-diamond cocktail ring that my father-in-law had made for my mother-in-law in Sicily, 60 years ago. She gave it to me on my wedding day.

Two years ago, we moved with our daughter from Tuscany to Nashville to launch the city’s edition of Sophisticated Living; my husband is the publisher and I’m the Editor-in-Chief. We’ve lived all over the world, and, like our environments, our style is always evolving. It’s always a work in progress and we’ve picked up a lot of beautiful things from everywhere -— Istanbul, Morocco, Paris.

Many of the pieces in the sale are from my mom. She always told me that you build a room off of a rug; from the ground up. The houses I grew up in always had these delicate, quietly sophisticated accents, like the Hermès ashtrays; a subtle way to warm the house without blaring a label or a monogram. The metal wall sconces with the fleur de lis were also something my parents’ gave me — when I was 20 years old and furnishing my first home. They’ve been with me in almost every country I’ve lived in because they were small enough to fit in a suitcase.

What about all of the Prada?

Patrizio Bertelli, one of the owners and founders of Prada, was a client of my husband’s and became a friend, so every time I go to Italy, I go on a Prada buying trip. Italy is the fashion capital of the world, and Tuscany, where the factories and headquarters are, is really where the magic happens. One of my husband’s friends is the lead designer for leather goods at Dolce & Gabbana, so you’ll see their belts and iPhone cases in the sale. Growing up as a little girl who loved fashion and saw these brands in the September issues of Vogue, it felt unreal to move to Italy and sit at dinner with the leaders of those brands. It made the world feel like a really small place.

How do you feel about letting go of these objects?

A saying that I’ve always loved is “You’re exactly where you need to be.” Everything that we continue to bring into and let go of in our lives finds a new home. I’m sensitive to energy and creating a positive environment and all of the items in this sale come from a positive place and were curated with a lot of love and intent. I’m happy for them to bring that energy into someone’s home.