piano nobile

[pyah-naw naw-bee-le]

noun

Italian.

plural

piani nobili 

1. the principal story of a large building, as of a palace or villa.

piano nobile

/ ˈpjɑːnəʊ ˈnəʊbɪlɪ /

noun

1. architect the main floor of a large house, containing the reception rooms: usually of lofty proportions

Word History and Origins

Origin of piano nobile¹

Italian: great floor

Example Sentences

Where Weatherford and Kiefer are brooding and dense, Baselitz — generally not my favorite artist — has shown his most attractive side in a suite of decorative paintings installed on the building’s piano nobile, or first floor.

Read more on Washington Post

“Nothing beats it in the flesh,” said Robert Travers, the director of Piano Nobile, a London gallery.

Read more on New York Times

Its consummate feature is a picture gallery on the piano nobile that spans the length of the building and measures out to five perfect 18-foot cubes.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Original elements were preserved whenever possible: elaborately coffered ceilings, Corinthian pilasters, painterly marble mantels in rose and scarab green, deep mahogany door surrounds and timeworn octagonal tiles that underlay most of the light-filled piano nobile.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

“Those houses are built to be diplomatic residences with a piano nobile floor plan,” said Russell Firestone of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty.

Read more on Washington Post