The Villa

Villa Malavolta is located at the corner of Via del Podesta' and Via Martellini and is surrounded by a high wall and is barely seen from the street. It has belonged to the Feri family since 1863, but historian Carocci cites sources documenting a 'gentleman's residence' in the fifteenth century, when the villa was owned by the Tanini. The villa passed into the hands of Agnolo di Zanobi da Diacceto, Bernardo degli Alberti, the Bartolommei and then the Miniati, who completed the first major redevelopment of the property between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Access to the villa is from Via del Podesta', through two sculpted stone doorways: the seventeenth-century entrance on the left, now closed, is the old carriage entrance, whereas the right hand entrance, surmounted by the Feri coat of arms in modern stone, leads into a gently sloping avenue, paved with stones arranged in a herring bone pattern. The avenue is bordered by banks supporting the late nineteenth century italian garden, which is raised above the street level, planted with bay hedges, limes, cypresses and plain trees, and contains a closed well on the right.The west-facing façade of the villa, symmetrical with the entrance doorway, is pierced by four windows on the upper floor, with stone surrounds and shutters. The wall thickness of the wide tower above suggests that it is a nineteenth century addition. The east-facing façade of the villa, which faces a large garden, is nineteenth-century in appereance, with irregularly-spaced doors and windows. The interior of the villa has retained its nineteenth-century charm and warmth, thanks to the devotion of the current owners, who have conserved the terracotta floors, panelled ceilings, some of which are decorated with neo-classical motifs. There is a small, private nineteenth century chapel on the piano nobile.