The ‘Pope of Ravello’ Gore Vidal was a prolific American author who passed away on July 31, but left behind a legacy rich in both intellect and wealth – touched with excessive glamour, sex and power. His former home in Ravello, Italy was dubbed Villa La Rondinaia or Swallow’s Nest and was the epicentre of a lifestyle filled with luxury, sexual occurrences and people of the highest stature.

Stumbling upon an article at the midst of the mansion’s second selling since his death in 2012, it details the author’s lifestyle, friends and how “being a host meant providing young men if necessary.”

His friends ranged from Hillary Clinton to Susan Sarandon and he was often visited by Franco Amurri, Mick and Bianca Jagger, and Woody Harrelson.

Among them, Princess Margaret (sister to Queen Elizabeth) stayed over often and even had her own room with “a bathroom so big you could have a banquet in there.”

They (the two) spent a lot of time together, exchanged letters and—according to one guest of Vidal’s in Ravello who requested anonymity, —“he sent her out on a boat with a young Italian guy with a big cock and she came back very satisfied.”

The article also includes an interview with Susan Sarandon who told of her first meeting with Vidal over 40 years ago when she made her Broadway debut as Tricia Nixon in his play An Evening With Richard Nixon. His birthday, October 3, was the day before hers.

He was involved in a lot of debates around Cambodia around that time. I really got to know him when I stayed at La Rondinaia. He loved people showing up to have a good time. I was never supposed to get pregnant by Eva’s father [Franco Amurri, the Italian film director, producer and writer]. It was a miracle. I did my pregnancy test at La Rondinaia. Gore was the first one to find out. He said, ‘Well, of course you’ll give your baby neuroses. The only important thing is that they’re productive.’ Later he told people I had conceived Eva by the pool.

And there’s so much more. From his lovers, to the house, read the article on The Daily Beast for the lowdown on the extravagant affairs of Gore Vidal.

[source: thedailybeast]