The Noble House

Piano nobile, also known as Bel-Etage, is the principal floor of a large house, usually built in one of the styles of classical renaissance, braque or classicistic architecture. This floor contains the principal reception and bedrooms of the house. Piano nobile is often the first story, located above an ground floor containing minor rooms and service rooms. The reasons for this were so the rooms would have finer views, and more practically to avoid the dampness and odors of the street level. Often a grand exterior staircase or pair of staircases led from ground level up to the piano nobile.


Larger windows than those on other floors are usually the most obvious feature . Rooms on the piano nobile were mainly for public use and their decoration was a public act.