Episode 54: Moments in Italy, Part 3 - Beautiful Things…The Villa Necchi Campiglio, Milano
The last day of a travel adventure can be a quite distilling, generally it is a tricky day where the emotions run up and down, with that inner knowing that something special is about to end. Sometimes it can be a relief, sometimes the wheels fall off the cart, and sometimes the pressure to just enjoy it all can be simply too much, yet whatever the case it is a day to enjoy and revel in no less.
And that is why I organised a ticket to the Villa Necchi Campiglio in the heart of chic Milan. Not far from the Corso Venezia and the Fashion District, this urban and modernist villa is quite the inspiration if you are interested in Italian design and Beautiful Things….
The Villa Necchi Campiglio on Via Mozart, MilanIf you are looking for something fresh in the city where modernist architecture meets villa, meets green oasis, look no further than the Villa Necchi Campiglio. Before I visited this architectural marvel I had seen the villa in a number of films. Recently in the ‘House of Gucci’, ‘I am Love’ and the Series ‘Made in Italy’. I was rather intrigued when I discovered it was in fact a museum and an institution of design and modernist principles in the leafy streets of Milan.
A wonderful strolling zone, and known locally as the “Quadrilateral del Silenzio” for its architectual design and aesthetic principles on the streets of Via Mozart, Via Cappuccini and Corso Venezia
Shownotes:
Visit the Villa Necchi Campiglio
Films to watch, featuring the Villa Necchi Campiglio:
Io Sono L’ Amore - I am Love (2009, Luca Guadagnino)
House of Gucci (2021, Ridley Scott)
Made in Italy (2019, TV Series, Episode 2)
Conceived by the Campiglio and Necchi Family in the early 1930s. Architect Peiro Portaluppi was engaged to give birth to a design and for an urban villa in the heart of the city, just a few streets back from Corso Venezia. The vision entailed… A family residence, large garden, swimming pool (the first in the city centre) and a tennis court.
The visual aesthetics and design principles make for a fascinating tour de force. Even now almost one hundred years later this villa holds its own. Marble bathrooms, walnut floors, brass, metal, glass features, and stucco ceiling designs in each room. There is elegant lighting, sculptural pieces and art from collections entrusted to the Museum in recent years and the likes of Modigliani, Picasso, Magritte, Miro, Morandi, Canaletto and more on display.
In more recent years art collections donated by Claudia Gian Ferrari and by Aligheiro and Emilietta de’Michelli adorn the walls giving this modern beauty a warmth and vivacity in rooms of cool greens paired with tall windows and views out to the garden and pool.
Even with the modernist elegance there are many rooms that marry 18th Century antiques and art objects with decorative flourishes making the rooms warm and inviting for friends and family that would come to visit the residence when the family lived in the villa. From what I have read about the Necchi sisters they were very sociable and enjoyed entertaining friends and family.
One of the surprises of the my day visiting the Villa Necchi Campiglio was the spring garden on display. In between formal garden hedges manicured lawns, large terracotta urns, ferns and established trees were garden beds full of frilly poppies and pansies. Along the walkway that leads to the Restaurant/Caffeteria next door was the Wisteria in full bloom. Certainly visiting in April had its benefits yet I loved wandering the garden paths just as much as seeing the interiors of the Villa.
One of the things that intrigued and inspired while visiting the Museo Necchi Campiglio was the fact that nearly one hundred years on this Villa’s clean lines still radiate a purity of intention in the design. Yet, mostly I think it is a beautiful thing that the Necchi sisters have managed to carry the legacy of the Estate and Villa forward and continue to gather people and inspire the generations that follow.
The image below is the lower floor of the Villa…
If looking for somewhere beautiful to perch yourself after your visit to Villa Necchi Campiglio there is an elegant Caffeteria/Restaurant just beyond the tennis court and behind the pool. I didn’t have a reservation but managed to sit at a table inside. There are tables out in the garden too in the relaxed style of jardin d’hiver…
I very much enjoyed the Maltagliati di pasta fresca con pesto di Pomodorini disidratati, Pecorino, mandrel e menta and a glass of Marellino di Scansano Vignaioli DOC. Pranzo was suburb, but be sure to be book a reservation to secure a table.
Music Composed by Richard Johnston
Many, many beautiful things to admire, this collection I wish was mine!!