Although it covers an area of just one hectare, Villa Gamberaia attracts visitors from all over the world, thanks above all to its extraordinary gardens, whose beauty owes much to Princess Catherine Jeanne Ghika of Romanian origin, wife of Prince Eugen Ghika-Comănești.
Nestled in the hills of Settignano, commanding magnificent views over Florence and the Arno Valley, Villa Gamberaia occupies the site of a farm documented as early as the fourteenth century as belonging to the Monastery of San Martino a Mensola. The estate takes its name from the freshwater shrimp once found in the local ponds and streams.
At the end of the fourteenth century, the property was acquired by Matteo di Domenico Gamberelli, father of the celebrated sculptors and architects Antonio and Bernardo Rossellino. In the early seventeenth century, Zanobi Lapi, a wealthy Florentine merchant dealing in luxury textiles, purchased the villa and began constructing the main residence, making partial use of the existing foundations. He and his two grandsons were responsible for laying out the principal areas of the garden, as well as for creating its ingenious network of canals and water features.
A century later, the estate, which then comprised fifteen farms, passed into the hands of the Capponi marquises. They undertook an extensive programme of renovation and modernisation, transforming the villa into one of Florence’s finest residences. Distinguished by two longitudinal north–south axes lined with cypress trees, as well as by statues, urns and sculptures representing the Four Seasons, the estate acquired the elegant character that still defines it today.
In 1896, the property became the possession of Catherine Jeanne Ghika, wife of Prince Eugen Ghika-Comănești, who devoted much of her life to the spectacular transformation of the famous gardens. She softened the austere framework of perennial plantings with roses and flowering species, while the eighteenth-century Italian formal garden in front of the villa was reimagined as a playful composition in which rectangular water basins bordered by boxwood hedges replaced the traditional parterres. The Princess became renowned for her deep affection for Gamberaia, where she frequently retreated with friends to rest and reflect. A passionate gardener, she employed distinguished horticulturists to bring her ideas to life—ideas that many of her contemporaries regarded as unconventional, even eccentric.
The Second World War brought almost complete destruction to Villa Gamberaia. The estate was subsequently acquired by the family of industrialist Marcello Marchi, who undertook its restoration, a process later continued by his descendants, allowing the gardens to regain their former splendour.
The beauty of the estate inspired the distinguished London landscape architect Sir Geoffrey Alan Jellicoe during the 1980s, when he restored the gardens of Sutton Place, the residence of the American industrialist and philanthropist John Paul Getty.
Photography by Paolo Abate
Words by Luminița Diculescu
Discover the full version of this story in Volume IV.