Villa Mariani

Behind Bordighera's old town, Villa Mariani preserves the house and studio of the Lombard painter Pompeo Mariani, who lived and worked here from 1909 until his death in 1927. The property stands among olive terraces in the former Moreno Gardens, where Claude Monet painted in 1884.

Why it matters

Mariani made the villa a centre of artistic life on the Riviera. Its garden preserves three places associated with Monet's easel, while La Specola, the studio built for Mariani in 1911, reflects the importance of light and landscape in his work. The house also brings together the work of several noted designers and craftspeople active in early twentieth-century Italy.

What to notice

The garden retains palms, citrus and old Taggiasca olive trees, along with a fifteenth-century fountain decorated with a Tuscan mask. La Specola has tall windows and skylights suited to painting. Its furnishings and decoration include wrought iron by Alessandro Mazzucotelli, a pinnacle salvaged from Milan Cathedral, a bas-relief of Mariani's wife Marcellina Caronni by Paul Troubetzkoy, and cabinetry by Eugenio Quarti. The villa's interiors were expanded by architects Luigi Broggi and Angelo Savoldi.

Context and history

The house began around 1885 as a residence for Countess Fanshawe; its design is traditionally attributed to Charles Garnier. Mariani, who had visited Bordighera since 1889, bought it in 1909 and enlarged it over the following years. In 1911 he commissioned Rodolfo Winter to build La Specola. After Mariani's death, the property passed through his family and was acquired by Carlo Bagnasco in 1998. The restoration returned the studio's contents to their places, and the Pompeo Mariani Foundation is based there, with an exhibition including works by Mariani's uncle Mosè Bianchi. The garden and studio preserve the artistic setting in which Mariani worked and the villa's connections to Bordighera's wider community of painters.