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Palazzo Salis is in Bondo, Val Bregaglia, in Switzerland, not far from the Italian border.
It was built in 1766-76 by the architect Francesco Corce from Milan, commissioned by Count Hieronymus von Salis, a British diplomat of Swiss origin.

The palace is made of a large building with a basement, two main floors and a mezzanine floor. The house features the representation rooms at the centre; the living rooms are located on the sides; the studios are in the corners. Among the latter, there is a “Japanese studio” with painted chinoiserie.

The roof is that of a pavilion and includes three dormers facing the garden.
The doors have a granite profile, volute pediments with the Salis family coat-of-arms. The stairwell is particularly elaborated. Inside, the building features stuccoes by Domenico Spinelli from Como and several Louis XVI style decorations. There are several stoves, including a late XVIII-century dome by Johan Jakob Kuh and many valuable paintings, including a portrait attributed to Anthony van Dyck, and an image of Saint Catherine attributed to Bernardino Luini.

In 1997-1998 the building was restored; today it is inhabited by the descendants of the English branch of the Salis family.

The XVIII century garden was built during the palace construction: located on the western side, in an architecture continuum with the garden, it shows a geometric structure of classic Italian taste, with a jet fountain in the middle and a symmetrical external staircase. It was restored in 1991-1998, and it won the “Prix Schulthess des jardins” award in 2008.
A portion of the garden dates back to the early 1700s. The orthogonal layout with a terrace, located along the eastern facade of the building, and the jet fountain was created after 1773.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)