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| Map of the villa and surroundings |
Montecchio Precalcino, Province of Vicenza, Via Venezia; train station at Dueville on the Vicenza-Schio(*) line about 5 km/3 miles to the southwest. The villa is located along the Vicenza-Thiene bike route.
This villa, or cottage, was built, by reworking an existing structure, during the mid-sixteenth century and commissioned by Girolamo Forni a wealthy timber merchant, but in a situation more unique than unusual for Palladian villas, he was not a nobleman.
Forni was involved in business dealings with Andrea Palladio as a supplier of lumber, and this is one of the reasons why most critics attribute the design of this villa to Palladio; drawings of the villa are also included in Le fabbriche e i disegni di Andrea Palladio [the buildings and drawings of Andrea Palladio] by Ottavio Bertotti Scamozzi.
The villa has a simple yet attractive appearance. The facade consists of a Serliana [Palladian window] with a stairway in front and surmounted by bas reliefs by Alessandro Vittoria. Behind the villa is a large estate contained by a garden wall.
Today, unfortunately, the villa is in a state of total disrepair; the interior is gutted and all the fixtures have been removed, the garden overgrown; the villa presents a ghostly appearance, reduced to a skeleton. Ownership of the villa, after many changes of hands, has ended with a shaky Irish holding company and the subject of litigation; for now there seems no prospect of restoring the villa.
Latest visit: 2023-08-13
