THE VILLA DANTI 
By B. C. J ennings-Bramly 
Illustrated with Photographs by Arthur Murray Cobb 
J UST before reaching; the small station at 
Compiobbi, as the train from Rome nears 
Florence, it passes across a magnificent ave¬ 
nue of cypresses. This avenue runs from the 
banks of the Arno, one hundred and fifty 
yards below the railroad track, to a distance 
of about two hundred yards up the hill. 
Ruthlessly the railway has made a breach 
through those fine trees, and as ruthlessly 
the smoke and noise of passing trains dis¬ 
turb the solitude and peace of the avenue’s 
dark shade. 
Looking up to the north, as the train 
passes, you would have a glimpse of a huge 
bit of statuary at the extreme end of the av¬ 
enue, effective enough at that distance, bad 
though it be at close quarters. Another 
avenue crosses at that point, coming down 
from the cancello of the 
garden, near the house, 
and, from the point 
where the statue marks 
the meeting of the roads, 
rising again in a straight 
line up a very steep hill 
on the summit of which 
the trees encircle an 
obelisk. 
Beyond and above, a 
dense wood stretches 
east and west along the 
hillside, a wood of ilexes, 
oaks and bays, and, most 
beautiful of all, the wavy 
lines of a mass of stone- 
pines pierced here and 
there by the needles of 
taller cypresses. 
These avenues and 
woods belong to the 
Villa Danti, a square 
block of a building stand¬ 
ing on the lower slopes 
of the hill, on a terrace 
facing the long valley 
of the Arno. Built as 
it is on the side of the 
hill, the loggia on the ground floor (which, 
to the north, is on a level with the garden, 
opens to the south upon a long and wide 
balcony, from which double steps lead to a 
terrace below). This level again overlooks a 
small semicircular garden, all roses, lemon 
trees and fountains. Beyond, the podere , 
cut in two by the railway embankment, runs 
down to the Arno. 
An inscription which runs the whole 
length of the southern faqade tells us that 
“ Alexander Guadanius Senator di Phillipi filii * 
erexit 1625. 
It is known that the property once be¬ 
longed to the family of the Garibalducci, 
who sold it to the Guadagni, by whom, as 
we read, the present villa was built. In 1692 
some additions must have been made, as that 
date appears on some of 
the outbuildings. The 
Guadagni sold it to the 
Danti, a daughter of 
whose house has lately 
brought it by marriage 
to the Friulian family 
of Counts Colloredo. 
Far off enough down 
the valley to be at 
peace, whatever might 
happen in Florence, the 
villa has no associations 
with the history of the 
town. It is merely one 
of the many fine, mas- 
sive co u n try houses 
which were built in Tus¬ 
cany in the seventeenth 
century. 
The center of the fa¬ 
cade has two loggias, 
one above the other. A 
low, square clock tower 
rises slightly above the 
roof of the house to the 
left of the building. On 
each side of the loggias 
there is space for two 
297 
