The Italian renaissance villa design : its historical development, best examples, design principles, and appropriate use under American conditions

Abstract

I will offer a description of the old Roman villas and their history as well as of the greater Italian villas, grouped according to geographical location, and with special consideration of the design and ground arrangement features. The building architecture and interior decoration is not within the scope of this paper, and neither do I consider their individual history, although very interesting in many cases, as a subject for lengthy consideration here. The examples given of the American adaptation of Italian villa design are not numerous nor are they extensive in reality. They show a well-marked tendency, however, of our country home architects to adopt formal methods of ground arrangement with a particular emphasis on Italian ideas of composition. They likewise illustrate that the Italian villa ideals are quite well adapted to the demands of our own country residence when the natural surroundings are favorable.