The Gardens of the Villa Corsini 
THE PRINCIPAL FACADE OF THE VILLA CORSINI 
erally altered in appearance, to suit the taste 
of the period. In all probability the archi¬ 
tect employed was the same Ferri who de¬ 
signed the left wing and the front, facing the 
river, of the Palazzo Corsini on the Lung- 
arno in Florence. 
At Castello the facade was altered to what 
it now is, and the great hall, the staircase lead¬ 
ing from the cor tile and the rooms above were 
added, forming what is now the south wing 
of the house. The gardens also w'ere laid 
out at this time and the steps and fountain 
in the ilex wood made their appearance soon 
after. 
In the house, the proportions of the hall 
are so peculiar that thev require excusing. 
Sixty-four feet long, it is only 27 feet wide 
and 40 feet high. It seems that the wife 
of Marchese Filippo Corsini (he who bought 
the villa and for whom Ferri designed the 
alterations) was so extraordinarily stout, al¬ 
though barely thirty years old, that every¬ 
thing was sacrificed to the one object of mak- 
WITHIN THE CORTILE 
