T HE first notice I have found of the 
beautiful spot so happily chosen by Graf 
Fritz von Hochberg tor building his large 
.villa, is in 1349, when a lady of the charm¬ 
ing name ot Dolce, widow of Bindo Buon- 
averi, a noble Florentine, sol,d a small 
house and a podere , or farm, to a sister of 
Cenni di Giotto, a relation of the great 
painter. It afterwards passed to the Valori, 
who owned a large villa and much land near 
by. Pico della Mirandola, Marsilio Ficino, 
Poliziano, and even the magnificent Lorenzo 
himself, frequently strolled over from Fiesole 
to visit their friend Valori, and perchance held 
some of their brilliant philosophical discus¬ 
sions under the fine ilex trees or the mis¬ 
shapen gnarled olives which still adorn 
“ Montalto.” Giacomo di Fea, second hus¬ 
band of the celebrated Caterina Sforza, 
bought the place in 1559, and resold it nine 
years later to the powerful family of Del 
Nero, perhaps when he took service with 
Girolamo Riario, Caterina’s first husband. 
The Barons Del Nero laid out the gardens, 
and turned the small house into a typical 
seventeenth century villa with frescoed 
rooms. About seventy years ago it came 
into the possession of Mr. Hall, an English¬ 
man, from whose widow Graf von Hochberg 
bought villa and lands after the earthquake 
THE PIAZZA OR FORECOURT OF “MONTALTO” 
The enriched archway on the right leads to the entrance hall 
7 
