By B. C. Jennings-Bramly 
Illustrated with photographs by Arthur Murray Cobb 
H AD the architect who built the grand 
villa of the Corsi-Salviati, on the out¬ 
skirts of the small town of Sesto, foreseen 
that such things as electric tramways were to 
he, he would have doubtless placed the long 
building further from the road than it now 
stands, separated from the rails by some five 
feet of stone pavement and a row of vener¬ 
able stone posts. 
Perhaps the road 
itself was once upon 
a time wider, or the 
grounds opposite, 
now enclosed, may 
have been open, 
thus giving the 
passer-by a better 
chance of getting a 
full view of the long 
facade. At present 
this is impossible. 
It is a very long, 
one-storeyed build¬ 
ing — the great 
height of the rooms 
sufficing to raise it 
to fine proportions. 
The wide spaces be¬ 
tween the windows 
are ornamented by 
a simple design 
painted in brown on 
the white stucco. 
There are only three 
windows to the right and left of the entrance 
gates, which, with the rustic voussoirs of their 
arch and surmounted by a variant of the shell 
pattern, dear to renaissance decorators, take 
up a considerable space. The huge shield 
above the gates bears the arms of the Corsi, in 
heraldic language : “ Per fess vert and gules a 
lion rampant counterchanged, debruised of a 
bend argent.” Phis 
is, of course, sur¬ 
mounted by a mar- 
q u i s ’ s coronet. 
Other ornaments 
are the urns and 
small obelisks stand¬ 
ing on the balus¬ 
trade of the terrace 
which runs round 
the roof of the house. 
From the wings to 
the center of the fa- 
9ade these balus¬ 
trades are interrupt¬ 
ed and a volute rises 
in a bold curve to 
the height of an 
extra storey, in 
which three windows 
are pierced, a not 
very happy conceit, 
as the sky appearing 
through them gives 
this portion of the 
facade an unfinished 
THE STATUES AROUND THE FOUNTAIN 
H3 
