#1664 Villa Genova

This ancient and charming country residence dates back to the end of the 18th century and is located in Fosseto, a hamlet of San Salvatore Monferrato (AL). The dwelling is arranged on three floors above ground. Access to the villa is both pedestrian and vehicular, along a beautiful avenue surrounded by vegetation that leads to the courtyard in front of the house.  The ground floor leads to a characteristic frescoed living room, a spacious dining room with fireplace, an eat-in kitchen and a service bathroom.  On the first floor, reached by an original staircase, there are three bedrooms, one of which has an en-suite bathroom, another bathroom and a balcony with a splendid view of the park.  On the second floor, entirely in the original style with exposed beams, we have a living room with fireplace, two bedrooms and a large bathroom. The first owners of what is now ‘Villa Genova’ were the Counts Franzini Tibaldè di Rolasco who, following the stylistic dictates in vogue in the 19th century, created a romantic garden, about 10,000 square metres in size, enclosed by a hawthorn hedge and rich in tree specimens that have now reached monumental dimensions, including a hundred-year-old plane tree, a sofora japonica ‘Pendula’, the cypress of the marshes, and the Cyprus cedar.  The garden is entirely surrounded by a row of oaks. Avenues and paths unite and divide the space into eleven different zones, characterised by different vegetation and different botanical essences. Rhododendron bushes and azaleas are interspersed with ferns, old roses and modern shrubs.  Flowering plants, including collections of spireas, deutzia and peonies follow one another, along with ground cover plants and herbaceous plants. At the far end of the garden, a small pond houses several aquatic varieties including rustic water lilies and lotus flowers.