Villa Gazzotti Grimani

Villa Gazzotti Grimani stands at Bertesina on the eastern edge of Vicenza. Designed by Andrea Palladio in the early 1540s, it combines a monumental classical front with the history of a country estate developed around earlier buildings.

Why it matters

The villa belongs to an early phase of Palladio's work on rural residences. Its full-height Composite order gives architectural unity to a scheme that incorporated a pre-existing tower house rather than beginning on an entirely empty site.

What to notice

Three central arches and a pediment organise the principal façade, with tall pilasters and framed windows extending across the front. The raised main floor stands above a semibasement. The integration of older fabric and its balancing counterpart at the opposite end connects the symmetry of the design with the practical constraints of the site.

Context and history

Taddeo Gazzotti commissioned the project around 1542–1543. Financial difficulties led him to sell the unfinished villa to Girolamo Grimani in 1550, and work continued under the new owner. Later subdivisions and alterations changed the interiors, followed by partial restoration of aspects of the original proportions.