By the time readers make it to his arrival to southern Italy, they’re primed to expect a full-scale, no-expense-spared approach to renovation and decoration. And that’s exactly what happened.
When Astor bought the 16-room villa in 1905, it was owned by an Italian nobleman. Soon after, Astor acquired a monastery and medieval church next door and knocked them both down. He added parquet floors and hand-painted ceilings and installed a pool and several acres of gardens. He even built a glassy dining room so his guests could have unimpeded views of Naples and the island of Ischia.
His final addition to the property was the “Pompeiian” villa, which was decorated with Ionic columns and neo-classical frescoes by the Roman artist, Mario Spinetti (1848-1925). Astor, who by then had renamed the house Villa Astor, called the faux-Pompeiian construction “Villa Florus” and filled it with artifacts that had been dug up in Pompeii.
A Succession of Notable Owners
After Astor’s death (his estate was worth approximately $60 million), the house underwent a few decades of obscurity until it was requisitioned by the Allies during World War II. For a time, the anti-fascist philosopher-politician Benedetto Croce was installed in the house, after which it was acquired by someone whom the book refers to as “a Dutch minister.”
After that, the Panes purchased the property and turned it into a destination for the jet set. Princess Margaret, Rudolf Nureyev, Gianni Agnelli, and others were photographed hanging about. “These were years of unforgettable receptions in and outside the villa,” writes Rita Pane in her own essay in the book. “We have always kept a guest book and it is remarkable how many of the comments left by our visitors evoke the idea of paradise.”
Now, with the intervention of Garcia, a Paris-based interior designer who’s also worked on the interiors of Versailles, the house has been brought back to what Astor, writing in the introduction, said is “the dream realized by [William Waldorf] during the latter part of his life when he gave his imagination free rein.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.