Villa Reale Di Marlia In Lucca Has Been Sold

This historic luxury home is located in the town of Capannori, in Lucca. Surrounded by extensive grounds, the building is the accumulated result of the work done by its different owners over the centuries. As early as the Longobard era (9th century), there was a fortress on the site, inhabited by the Duke of Tuscia.

 

One of the most unique luxury properties in Italy, it passed into the hands of the Orsettis, a wealthy noble family that reconstructed the palazzo and built a splendid baroque garden adorned with waterworks, nympheums, tubs and statues, many portions of which have been preserved to the present. The Orsetti were also responsible for the construction of the small "Clock" building. In 1806 the luxury home became the property of Elisa Bonaparte, Napoleon's sister, who also purchased the adjoining Villa del Vescovo, plus the land that came with it, thus doubling the size of the property. The grounds were redesigned in the English style, with numerous trees transplanted from the Royal Park in Naples. As for the late Renaissance Palazzo of the Orsetti, it was renovated in a neoclassic style by the architects Giovanni Lazzerini and P.T. Bienaimè. The interior was also modified in this period, with work done by Italian artists, including Tofanelli, who painted the fresco of the Dance of the Hours preserved in the large ball room on the ground floor. Important guests were called on to enliven the life of the Court, such as Niccolò Paganini and Metternich, and mention must naturally be made of the premiere of Racine's Phaedra in the Villa's Greenery Theatre. After Napoleon had been driven out by the English, the Villa fell under the control of the Bourbons. It was in this period that the sovereign, Maria Luisa, with a kaffeehaus and the Astronomical Observatory of Lucca, unfortunately never completed. Since 1928, the Villa has belonged to the Pecci-Blunt family, which has overseen the maintenance and restoration of this luxury property.