This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)

Located just above Baveno, in the Verbano area, on the Piedmont shore of Lake Maggiore, Villa Brandolini d’Adda was built in the XVI century on a previous convent.
It shows several architectural and ornamental elements of remarkable value and it is surrounded by a garden, the only one in the world built with four different styles: Italian, English, French and Japanese.

The park was designed in the 1920s by Maurice Blonder (who called it “the garden of his dreams”), who inserted many references to Christian symbolism, including an elaborate parterre in the shape of a lily and a small rose garden dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

The various sections feature different flora and vegetation; in particular, the Japanese garden contains ferns and rodgersias, while the French, the Italian and the English parts of the gardens are planted with peonies and precious trees, including Japanese maples, cedars, horse chestnuts and two spectacular magnolias “Kobus”.

There are also some thick bamboo trees, several Japanese maples, flowering shrubs in large bushes, 6.5-ft high hedges of hydrangeas and azaleas, statues and artefacts.

The park was recently restored by the previous owners with the help of young Dutch “au pair” gardeners: thanks to an agreement between the landscape architect Govert Visser and the owners of the garden – Annibale and Ghislaine Brandolini d’Adda – for some years Dutch students have spent some weeks working in the garden in exchange for accommodation and board.

The main structure is currently a Bed & Breakfast facility, called “la Romanica”

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)