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This villa, of ancient and noble tradition, is one of the most elegant residences on the hills of San Casciano, above Florence, surrounded by vineyards and olive groves.
Already mentioned in the land registry of the early XV century with its current name, it was built back then by the Machiavelli family and then became a property of several illustrious Tuscan patrician families: Corsini, Antinori, Capponi, and Orlandini; the latter made the very last renovations in 1690.

Since 1998, the property has been owned by the antique dealer Gianfranco Luzzetti who has begun a thorough restoration of the interior halls, the park and the Italian garden with the assistance of the landscape architect and garden historian Ada Segre.

THE VILLA

A long row of ancient cypresses flanks the avenue leading to the entrance to the residence, creating a perspective that enhances the main facade, enlivened by two vertical moldings that outline a central area; the latter is crowned by a pediment with the statues of the Four Seasons.
The villa consists of a large rectangular building with two wings that house service rooms, while there is not an internal courtyard but a hall that takes the entire central part of the building in its height.
The four-season theme is a recurring one also inside the villa, especially when it comes to the frescoed decoration of some the large rooms.
Painstaking and rigorous restoration work has also been done inside the villa, and the original furnishings – antique furniture, paintings and objects of art, carpets, tapestries, etc. – thus recreate its original appearance.

THE GARDEN

The garden probably dates back to the late XVII century and consists of an Italian style area divided into two terraced shelves to the south, and an English park to the north.
Part of the original parterre is preserved, with flower beds fitted with a peculiar irrigation system – one of the best-preserved in Tuscany – with basins carved in stone and placed outside the flower bed – they get water naturally flowing downward.

Transformed into an English garden like element in the mid-XIX century, the parterre underwent the first restoration around 1925 with new box hedges, and a second, more recent, which involved the restoration of its XVII century vegetation: dwarf fruit trees, old roses, aromatic herbs, perennial, annual and bulbous herbaceous plants.

One of the real treasures of the garden is the collection of centenary lemon trees, displayed in pots in the summer and sheltered in the winter.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)