The Agnelli Gardens at Villar Perosa: Two Centuries of a Family Retreat by Marella Agnelli, Marella Caracciolo & Paolo Pejrone
folio. pp. 220. profusely illustrated, some fold-outs. bibliography. hardcover. dw. (fine condition). [New York]: Harry N. Abrams Inc., [1998].
ISBN 10: 0810919796ISBN 13: 9780810919792
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The fabulous private estate of Villar Perosa, with 25 acres of glorious gardens just north of Turin, Italy, is one of Europe's best-kept secrets. Home since the early 1800s to five generations of the Agnelli family of Fiat fame, it is revealed to the public for the first time in this splendid book.Since her marriage to Gianni Agnelli in 1953, author Marella Agnelli has dedicated herself to transforming Villar Perosa and its gardens into the showcase it is today. Her own spectacular photographs, taken throughout the year, reveal the results of decades of close collaboration with famed landscape and garden designer Russell Page. The grounds offer an extraordinary display of styles: Italianate formal gardens; a water garden with 11 connecting artificial lakes; an English-style woodland walk; a romantic garden; sculpture gardens; and much more.Marella Caracciolo opens the book with a history of the Agnelli family and the estate. This privileged insider's tour of a magnificent house and its gardens includes informative commentaries about the various plantings.