Villa Nardi Florence Italy - Antique Residence - Bed and Breakfast in Florence Italy
  

History of the Franchetti - Nardi Villa 

The beginning of the Villa's history coincides with the period when Florence was the capital of Italy. Numerous Italian states united to form the Reign of Italy, and Florence was chosen as its capital from 1865 to 1871, after the brief period of Turin as capital and before the final choice of Rome. Florence was completely transformed under the direction of the achitect Poggi: a large part of the third circle medieval walls was demolished in order to build a wide ring-road, with the creation of a new avenue beyond the river Arno called Viale dei Colli, decorative and panoramic, which joined Piazza Ferrucci to the Roman gate. A new square was built overlooking the city: Piazzale Michelangelo. Many changes were made at Porta Romana in order to create the royal stables close to the Medici gardens of Boboli and the Pitti Palace, the royal residence of the Savoia monarchy.  Viale dei Colli thus became an avenue of particularly luxurious stately homes.It was Giuseppe Poggi himself who designed the Villa and its park directly above the royal stables, as is testified by the building contract between the Town Hall of Florence and the Lazzeri & Ciampi Society signed in 1868.The first owners of the Villa were the Barons Franchetti, in particular the musician Alberto (1860 - 1942) who elected the Florentine home as his favourite, especially after his marriage to Margherita Levi, with whom he had a son, Raimondo. The story goes that Baron Alberto drew musical inspiration from the house, as besides the sumptuous parties and banquets he held there he also organized cultural and artistic seminars in a historical moment at the beginning of the 20th century when Florence was particularly vivacious. As a musician Alberto is classified as belonging to the "verismo" school of music, although his works rarely appear in concert halls or opera houses nowadays. His most important operas are:"Cristoforo Colombo" and "Germania e Glauco",which was composed at the Villa. He was the director of the Florence College of Music from 1926 to 1928. He improved the Villa by adding an extra wing with a ballroom where concerts were also held.  He built stables in the grounds in a picturesque tirolean style with a steeply sloping roof, slate tiles and wooden trimmings, a small cottage near the Boboli gardens, the keeper's lodge next to the monumental main gate on the Viale Michelangelo, and othet smaller constructions like the brick bird-cage with a poligonal tower, sloping roof and ogival windows decorated with fake wood. 
The story goes that Baron Alberto drew musical inspiration from the house, as besides the sumptuous parties and banquets he held there he also organized cultural and artistic seminars in a historical moment at the beginning of the 20th century when Florence was particularly vivacious. As a musician Alberto is classified as belonging to the "verismo" school of music, although his works rarely appear in concert halls or opera houses nowadays. His most important operas are:"Cristoforo Colombo" and "Germania e Glauco",which was composed at the Villa. He was the director of the Florence College of Music from 1926 to 1928. He improved the Villa by adding an extra wing with a ballroom where concerts were also held.  He built stables in the grounds in a picturesque tirolean style with a steeply sloping roof, slate tiles and wooden trimmings, a small cottage near the Boboli gardens, the keeper's lodge next to the monumental main gate on the Viale Michelangelo, and othet smaller constructions like the brick bird-cage with a poligonal tower, sloping roof and ogival windows decorated with fake wood.

 In the park there are several stone and marble statues, a large copy of the Venere di Milo, a stone well above an extensive underground brick water tank, a lake and many well-developed trees: cypresses. oaks, planes, libanese cedars, maples, chestnuts ,limes, elms, palm-trees and yews. The flower-beds have maintained the original design of a classical Italian garden. The central avenue is about 400 metres long, and passes sinuously and elegantly through the low laurel hedges that surround the beds.  The floral perfumes come from both perennial and annual plants: lemons, oranges, mandarins, azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias and lilies in pots; antique rose bushes, peonies, jasmin and wistaria in the ground, together with medicinal bushes like rosemary, sage,thyme and oreganum, that render strolls in the park both scented and relaxing. Baron Alberto Franchetti practically furnished the Villa from scratch, using excellent examples of Italian craftwork, following the advice of his brother Edoardo, a famous and rich Venetian art collector and patron, the owner of the Cà d'Oro, a magnificent palace on the Grand Canal and now an important museum. The Villa was thus enriched with a series of coloured glass panels reproducing the musical angels of Melozzo and hand-blown polycromic rosettes inspired by the Umbrian school of glasswork. The walls were covered with hand-carved walnut panels, the ceilings had square-panelling decorated with gold leaf with the central flowers painted in white and ivory (later painted in dark colours following the fashion of the romantic self-penalizing 19th century). In the house there is a neo-gothic walnut arch, statues of prophets and twisted columns, a copy of the Orcagna  loggia and a majestic fireplace attributed to Pietro Tacca, whose upper part is decorated with dancing cherubs that recall the Donatello and Duccio art masterpieces. The musician's son  Raimondo became a well-known explorer, and died tragically in Africa. He married the Venetian countess Bianca Rocca and had two daughters: Lauranna, who married Lovatelli and became the owner of the Villa, and Afdera, famous in the international press because she married the American actor Henry Fonda. The fortunes of the Villa followed those of the family, obliged to mortgage all its properties at the end of the second world war. During the war the Villa Franchetti - Nardi was occupied by the German forces, and then by evacuees. After several different owners it was rented by the editor Giusti from Livorno, and then by the artist Enzo Faraoni. In the 1960s, abandoned and in deplorable condition, it was taken over together with the park by  the building society Carlo Alberto who sold it to Doctor Gustavo Nardi. Together with his wife Guia Giacanelli and his children Giulia, Francesco, Geri and Gea he has patiently and with enormous dedication restored the property to its previous splendour, advised by the Belle Arti of Florence. Thanks to its history, its architectural merits, its characteristic garden and not least, its skilful and careful restoration by the Nardi family, the Villa Franchetti - Nardi was accepted as a "Historical Residence of Italy"in 1991 and now in 2009 it has become an Antique Residence Hotel and opens its doors to its important guests.