ANTIQUARIAN’S VILLA

Antiquarian’s Villa is a splendid residence immersed in the green of the rolling Tuscan hills.
Also in this villa lived a prominent personality of Italian history, recognized for his talent.

I haven’t found much information on the history of the house, but there is certainly no shortage of information on its last owner.

Antiquarian’s Villa is a splendid residence immersed in the green of the rolling Tuscan hills.
Also in this villa lived a prominent personality of Italian history, recognized for his talent and his passion for antiques.
I haven’t found much information on the history of the house, but there is certainly no shortage of information on its last owner.

But let’s start with what Antiquarian’s Villa looks like.
The villa is now completely surrounded by vegetation and well hidden from view.
Only the memory of the tidy and well-kept garden remains, but the splendid view of the nearby hills has remained the same.

In the midst of all that greenery we find the huge villa with its dependance.
Built by the famous neoclassical architect Lorenzo Nottolini, it has an area of ​​450 square meters and a terrace as big as a modern apartment, all surrounded by a huge park (5 hectares).
And inside we have 14 rooms and 6 bathrooms.
While the dependance used to accommodate guests is about 200 square meters.

Initially the villa was owned by Count Laroche.
Around the 1960s it became the property of Bruno Evangelisti, who nicknamed the house in a friendly way with the term “Al Francese” in honor of its former owner.

Bruno Evangelisti was born in 1920, and all his life he loved beauty and art.
Very active in the artistic scene of the area, he gathers around him the greatest intellectuals and artists of the second half of the 1900s.
The “Evangelists Gallery and Auction House” was opened in his name after the Second World War.
In addition to having been, after World War II, co-founder of the Circolo del Cinema di Lucca and co-founder of the Lucchese Music Association, in 1970 he founded the Antiques Market, which still hosts 200 exhibitors and is among the most important in the sector.

Bruno Evangelisti was a famous antique dealer all his life and thanks to his passion he furnished the most beautiful villas.

Also a lover of cinema and very close friend of the director Luchino Visconti, he also participated as an extra in the film “The Innocent” where he played the role of the auctioneer.

Inside the house

Bruno Evangelisti lived in his villa for 40 years, surrounded by the love of relatives and friends.
After his death in 2003 the villa was slowly abandoned.

The inside of the house I must say is strange.
Entered through the main door, a white marble floor, with a wooden platform leading to an empty hall, has a huge toy sailing ship in the middle.

The walls are still in bright colors, and the bookcases remind us of the importance of reading and art in the villa.
But the most fascinating is the staircase covered in a bright red wallpaper with drawings.

The dependance is the best preserved.
There is a pool table in good condition and a fireplace with two armchairs in front.
A real living room with sofas and turntables bring us back to the stories of the people who frequented the villa, where we spent the evenings talking finely, drinking, smoking and playing billiards listening to good music.

Yes, the story is long, but it was worth telling, because together with the villa the memory of its owner is also disappearing.

However, the villa remains abandoned and a victim of time, but it was put up for sale for almost 1 million euros, a low price in my opinion for all the beauty it housed.
If you love abandoned villas at this link you can see my explorations.