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Villa Il Meleto, in Agliè Canavese, dates back to the second half of the XIX century and was the summer residence of the poet Guido Gozzano (1883-1916) for a long time. It owes its name to the apple orchard (“Meleto”) which grows along the driveway and on the nearby stretch of land.
Built by Senator Massimo Mautino, the villa then passed to his daughter and her husband, the engineer Fausto Gozzano, father of the Italian poet.
In the early XX century, the latter began to make some changes, implementing the popular Liberty style and embellishing the facade with beautiful wisteria.

In 1912, il Meleto became the property of a farmer and after the Second World War it was bought by Edvige Gatti Facchini: the new owner rearranged the missing furnishings to make it as similar as possible to the description of the whole estate mentioned in the poet’s works. On her death, the villa passed to Francesco Conrieri, who, in turn, restored it once again, this time according to the Art Nouveau style; he actually transformed it into the house-museum of Guido Gozzano, opened to the public in 1975: the museum still exhibits some of the poet’s furnishings and personal objects.

Some rooms are well preserved or perfectly recreated, including the “living room of Nonna Speranza”, the dining room, the study with the library, and the bedroom of Gozzano, with the collection of butterflies and the memories of his trip to the Far East.

The garden

The small romantic garden that surrounds the villa still features the orchard and some oriental species, including a beautiful loquat (Eriobotrya japonica). An avenue separates the agricultural part from the landscaped one, while the latter is embellished with a pond with an islet in the centre.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)