Villa Balbiano

Book excerpt: Jacques Garcia's meticulous restoration of Villa Balbiano, a magnificient Italian architectural masterpiece with a centuries-long history. Esteemed interior architect Jacques Garcia has undertaken painstaking restoration work at Villa Balbiano that combines a stunning array of precious materials and a world-class collection of paintings and antique furnishings set against the backdrop of the original design that had been obscured over the centuries. From its prominent position on Lake Como, Villa Balbiano radiates a majestic charm emblematic of the most splendid chapter in the history of great villas in the idyllic Italian region. Each successive owner added to the splendor of the villa through additions, new frescoes and statues, and increasingly extensive and sumptuous gardens, which were distinguished by the Society of Garden Designers for best historic garden restoration in 2018. The villa's history reached an acme at the end of the eighteenth century, when the enlightened Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini, as master of the house, transformed Villa Balbiano into a crucible of philosophy and art, framed within the villa's archetypal Roman lines. Garcia's glorious new restoration inaugurates a new season in the life of the villa in one of the world's most glamorous locations.