Villa Necchi Campiglio, Milan
our tour through the iconic art decò residence...
An architectural gem, the Villa Necchi Campiglio was built by the architect Piero Portaluppi in 1935, featuring three floors, a private garden with a swimming pool and tennis court all set in the centre of Milan.
We first fell in love with the Villa Necchi Campiglio in the film I Am Love, by Luca Guidagnino. Scenes of rushing down stairways, in and out of kitchen quarters, long afternoon sunlight, the Porche pulling up to the entrance, the list goes on. So to walk into the property felt like becoming a character...
We visited the home at 3pm, so the sun was casting long low light on its way down. The garden was large and luscious, we paused outside the green room to admire their indoor plants growing up against the windows. This room would evidently become our room-of-choice, a perfect spot to read a book and waste away an afternoon.
Inside, we were greeted with the entrance hall and staircase, with dark glossy wood panelling to frame yellow carpeted stairs, worn from years of use. Sitting room after drawing room, filled with family treasures such as boards of chess, and intimate family photographs, punctuated the home's hero materials: antique glass, aged wood and decadent soft furnishings in beautiful colours. The carved statue at the bottom of the stairs, "The Dead Lover" by Arturo Martini was absolutely breathtaking....
Upstairs, we explored the bedrooms, filled with personal wardrobes: silk scarves, winter hats and glamorous party dresses. Seperate his and hers bathrooms. A room for ironing the house's linens. A room for visiting family.
Villa Necchi was typically Italian: contemporary for its time and deeply charming.
