Villa baldini Doufour (Villa Paolina) (Sesto Fiorentino)

 house, park

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The villa, which in the 15th century had been the property of the Petrucci family of Florence, was bought in 1825 by prince Camillo Borghese in 1825. The building was known thereafter as Villa Paolina, in honour of Camillo's wife, princess Paolina Bonaparte Borghese, sister of Napoleon Bonaparte. A unified example of the Neoclassical style, this country home was completely renovated between 1826 and 1831, by Antonio Carcopino, a civil engineer who was given the task of enlarging the building and the surrounding land and transforming the complex into a princely residence complete with large romantic park and a garden laid out as a parterre with flower-beds. The villa was connected to the wooded land behind, which was to become what now appears as a park planted with cypress trees, holm-oaks and horse chestnuts by means of a cast-iron bridge that crossed over the ancient Via Quintigiana, thus putting the piano nobile of the residence in communication with the higher level of the hill.

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www.cultura.toscana.it/architetture/giardini/firenze/vi...