Restoration of a historic park

The garden to be restored enjoys a privileged location overlooking the river, with a parterre in front of the villa and a steep, terraced and planted slope down to the river, reached by a double staircase. Over the years both the villa and the garden had been divided up many times, losing their original identity. The practice began by analysing the garden, distinguishing the trees that belonged to the original layout from those that had seeded themselves or been planted later. Taking the existing paths into account, the project set out to restore the splendour of what must once have been a simple layout, not overly rich in specimen trees but interesting for its varied, changing views. After a major clearance of self-sown vegetation, all the architectural and planted elements of the original layout were brought into the new garden design, combined with new solutions and ideas that give the place character and allow – and encourage – its use by the owners and visitors to the villa.