The Villa Salviatino, Maiano, in the ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

'' of

Maiano Maiano is small hilltop locality, now part of Fiesole, in Tuscany. The Chiesa di San Martino was founded there in the eleventh century and subsequently restored in the fifteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. A '' palagio'' existed at Ma ...

on the steep slope south of

Fiesole Fiesole () is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a scenic height above Florence, 5 km (3 miles) northeast of that city. It has structures dating to Etruscan and Roman times. Sin ...

, is a Tuscan villa overlooking

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

. A modest farmhouse in the 14th century, set among informally terraced slopes planted with

vines A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

and

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

s, the house in its ''vigna'' was purchased in 1427 by the Bardi family, bankers of Florence, who rebuilt it in such palatial fashion that when it was subsequently sold to Nicola Tegliacci in 1447, the new owner named it ''Palagio (palazzo) dei Tegliacci.''Il Salviatino: History
/ref> In the 16th century it passed to Alamanno Salviati, who had it sumptuously frescoed and furnished; thus it gained its name as the Villa ''Il Salviatino'', to distinguish it from the grander Villa Salviati "le Selve", near Lastra, to the west. The villa was celebrated by

Francesco Redi Francesco Redi (18 February 1626 – 1 March 1697) was an Italian physician, naturalist, biologist, and poet. He is referred to as the "founder of experimental biology", and as the "father of modern parasitology". He was the first person to cha ...

, in his ''Bacco in Toscana'' (1685): "viva il nome Del buon Salviati, ed il suo bel Maiano''. For a short period it was owned by the Italian tenor

Giovanni Matteo Mario Giovanni Matteo De Candia, also known as Mario (17 October 1810 – 11 December 1883), was an Italian opera singer. The most celebrated tenor of his era, he was lionized by audiences in Paris and London. He was the partner of the opera singer Giul ...

and his wife Giulia Grisi, the transaction was completed by financier N M Rothschild of London, then in 1871 the villa was purchased by Pietro Pagliano, who added a medievalizing crenellated tower, but a new, more sympathetic owner, the American Phelps Thomas, took ownership in 1882 and began a programme of free restoration and aggrandisement, to designs of the antiquarian architect Corinto Corinti (1843–1930). A large central staircase was added and grand ''cinquecento'' portals. He reduced the tower, designed a new vaulted ''porte-cochere'' for carriages, overhung by a garden, which still exist, and remodelled the park by adding an Italian terraced garden and conservatories, with a

pergola A pergola is most commonly an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained. The ...

that Penelope Hobhouse found to resemble the wooden frames shown in woodcuts for Francesco Colonna's ''

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili ''Hypnerotomachia Poliphili'' (; ), called in English ''Poliphilo's Strife of Love in a Dream'' or ''The Dream of Poliphilus'', is a book said to be by Francesco Colonna. It is a famous example of an incunable (a work of early printing). The wor ...

''. Augusto Bruschi was entrusted with decorative painting, covering walls with medieval and neo-cinquecento patterns. After a sale of its contents in 1891 the villa passed into the hands of the Carrega di Lucedio family and then, in 1911, to the art critic, journalist and founder of the art magazine ''Il Dedalo'',

Ugo Ojetti Ugo Ojetti (15 July 1871 – 1 January 1946) was an Italy, Italian journalist-commentator and author. He wrote prolifically on a wide range of topics. His output also includes short stories and at least seven novels. Nevertheless, during his ...

and his wife Fernanda, who undertook further structural remodeling, removing many of the 19th century accretions, and installing an extensive library and many paintings and sculptures. From 1973 to 1987 the Villa ''Il Salviatino'' housed

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

's overseas program ''Stanford in Italy'' with classrooms, offices, library, dining facilities, and students' rooms. In the summer, including 1980, University of Michigan and Sara Lawrence College held their summer school program there. In the first decade of the 21st century the villa was restored and refurbished as a boutique hotel. Nove Firenze: Salviatino: buche e cemento
3 July 2008.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salviatino, Villa Il Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan City of Florence Historic houses Gardens in Tuscany Buildings and structures in Fiesole Houses completed in the 16th century Italian Renaissance gardens Renaissance architecture in Florence Villas in Florence