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Villa Perego can be found in the countryside of the province of Como and it is part of the vast possessions of the Perego di Cremnago family in the XVI century. At that time, the property also included a hunting lodge which was later demolished in 1740 by the humanist Giovanni Perego di Cremnago (1688-1773). He then redesigned the villa with the help of the architect Carlo Giuseppe Merlo from Milan.
The works started by Merlo were eventually completed by Giuseppe Piermarini (1734-1808), the author of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, with the help of his pupil, the Viennese architect Leopold Pollack, who took care of the construction of the neoclassical mortuary chapel.

Behind the villa, there are the large neoclassical stables designed by Simone Cantoni (1736-1818), the architect of Palazzo Serbelloni in Milan and, not that far away, an imposing XVIII century lemon grove which was transformed into a winter garden in the XIX century.

THE GARDEN

The oldest part of the garden is located in front of the grand staircase that leads to the main entrance of the villa; it consists of a parterre of box hedges (Buxus sempervirens) with a fountain in the center; the Italian garden develops from here, with san evocative avenue of cypresses (Cupressus sempervirens) which eventually leads to a thick beech forest (Fagus sylvatica).

On the western side of the villa, visitors can enjoy another parterre with a regular geometric shape, obtained with rectangular and circular flowerbeds of Salvia splendens and Savia Impatiens. The garden is surrounded by a balustrade decorated with ancient statues by Orazio Marinali and interrupted by a gate with a staircase leading to the park (on a lower level). There, a wondrous display of magnolias, Lebanon cedars (Cedrus libani), araucarias (Araucaria scopulorum), and a majestic pendulous beech (Fagus sylvatica “Pendula”) awaits.
It is a monumental complex, both for its architecture and for the gardens, set up in different eras, still part of our present times.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)