presenting towards the garden a long low two-storied facade, which is 

 decorated, not unpleasantly, in colour, with a geometrical panelling. 

 Raised above the flat tiled roof is that most essential feature of the 

 Tuscan villa, a belvedere or loggia. Here, unhappily, its five arches have 

 been glazed and closed up with shutters, thus depriving the house of 

 much of its interest, for the deep shadows of the arcade are an essential 

 part of the architectural scheme. But this is the fate of too many of the 

 Florentine loggie. Their original intention, as a connecting-link between 

 garden and house, is lost sight of, and one after another they are enclosed 

 and degenerate merely into one more mundane room. 



A wide terrace stretches the whole length of the house, its central 

 bay projecting forward above a roadway and beyond that over a grotto or 

 salle fraiche. 



On either side of the projecting bay a grand flight of stairs sweeps 

 downwards, bending forwards and following the oval outline of the enclosed 

 garden below. A bold picturesque balustrade encloses terrace and stair- 

 way, each pier being finished with some garden god or goddess — Ceres, 

 Pomona, Flora, Bacchus, and many another. How blest must a garden 

 be presided over by these ! 



In the centre, opposite the great portal, the balustrade is broken, in 

 order to admit a broad fountain tazza which is flanked by crouching 

 lions. Wistaria rambles over the balustrade, veiling but not hkiing it 

 beneath its delicate lilac clusters, and later in the season, when the 

 blossom has given place to the tender yellow foliage, the gardener puts 

 out his pots of azalea and carnation, geranium and Paris daisy, with here 

 and there a dark green box-tree as a bit of sobering colour. 



The enclosed garden below is laid out with grass plots, and scattered 

 over its surface are magnolias, oleanders, and other flowering shrubs. 

 The narrow borders that flank the paths are bright with flowers, and 

 roses and purple clematis ramble at will over the handsome old gate piers 

 almost hiding their curious vase-like finials. In the central basin a tiny 

 fountain makes music, and the scent of lerhon and jessamine fills the air. 



For more than eighty years the villa has been in English hands, and 

 the grounds have been pushed far into the podere. Much planting, 

 especially on the steep hill-side above the palazzo^ has been carried out 



87 



