Garden of Villa Confalonieri, Merate
Address: Via Garibaldi 17, 23807 Merate (LC)
Agency owner: the City of Merate is the owner since the 25 November 1987. The previous owners were the Baron Dr. Mario Confalonieri Cramascoli and his wife Rachel Josephine, widow Confalonieri.
Structure typlology: informal landscape park. There’s an area of formal garden in the backyard of access and in the sloping rear area, close to the villa.
Extension: 25,000 sqm.
Date: 1912
Accessibility: The garden is open to the public.
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The Garden:
Villa Confalonieri was built on an area where, before the demolition, there was another smaller villa, formerly owned by Baron Cavalier Confalonieri. The villa was the residence of the noble Mario Joseph Confalonieri veteran in the battle of 1848, known for the re-flourishing of jewelery industry in Milan.
The eclectic style of the interior is matched in the garden, with its open courtyard on the main facade of the residence, enriched by a large central flower bed and by the presence of the guesthouse. On the back of the house, a small formal area, with evergreen hedges trimmed into geometric shapes, is set on the perspective view of the central terrace. The garden, however, continues on the large sloping area with patches of vegetation and trees along the slope, following the path and demarcating areas of the lawn.
The stables are located at the edge of the property on the south side, with access from a side street, which originally served as a carriage road for the passage of carriages and horses direct to the residence.
Very diverse is the consistency of the botanical specie. It consists of (mainly) natives specimens of tall trees. However a significant number of exotic species enriches the wide landscaped area. Though almost certainly foreseen in the original plan, they have spread spontaneously in an excessive way, especially in the central area.
Villa Confalonieri is one of the smaller villas that are located in the municipality of Merate. It was built by the Baron Enrico Confalonieri in the early years of the twentieth century by the architects Fausto and Giuseppe Bagatti Valsecchi, employed also in the design of the garden between 1912 ane 1914.
During the Great War the house was inhabited by the nuns of the Order of Ursulines who had left Milan for a quieter and less dangerous place.
State of conservation of the garden
The garden is covered by the ordinary operations of cleaning and care of driveways, especially in the area of the entrance to the residence, characterized by round with central flower-bed, the sides of which still stands the building of the guesthouse.
It should also be noted that some volunteers clean up weeds and dead branches from time to time by the undergrowth of the park.
Bibliografy
Voce Bagatti Valsecchi, Fausto e Giuseppe, in Atlante del Giardino Italiano. 1750-1940, a cura di V. Cazzato, sezione Lombardia, a cura di L.Scazzosi, L. Pelissetti, Roma, Poligrafico, 2009, pp. 209-210.