A unique residence with an ancient history: in the upper Val Squaranto, so close to Verona yet so far from its bustle and alluring distractions, Torre di Terzolan is an elegant country villa set amid exceptionally green hills. Its rooms and remarkable park tell of past splendours while embracing a distinctive, gracious idea of exclusivity. For owner and hostess Roberta Previdi, it is a place where architecture and nature meet, part of a project of life and wine that began in the 1990s.
Verona is chaotic, polluted, noisy and hot, albeit beautiful. That is the first impression, though the city of the Scaligeri certainly deserves more than those initial sensations. Yet a very short drive changes everything, and changes it completely. There is greenery, gentle hills, fresh air and silence, milder temperatures and the elegant architecture of Torre di Terzolan. Here in the upper Val Squaranto, near the Lessinia plateau, the urban world just left behind feels so remote that it might never have existed, but be a figment of the imagination.
And yet its refined, poetic essence lies in these words, which capture both the setting and its surrounding landscape: «From the hilltop rises the tower. And the gaze reaches towards the city. On clear evenings the breeze caresses the vineyards and we look up at the stars. Beside me, the great cypress cools the days; the grapes, newly harvested, are already a memory of time». I do not know to whom these words should be attributed, but they fully convey the sensations experienced here.
A history among the vines
A villa, its extraordinary historic park of almost four meticulously tended hectares, graced with water and rare, beautiful plants, and its history: we are in the year 1300, when the Scaligeri, or Della Scala family, one of Italy’s most powerful ruling dynasties, govern Verona and have their hunting estate at the historic villa of Torre di Terzolan. In the sixteenth century, a very young cardinal, Niccolò Ridolfi, arrives and begins producing wine and olive oil. Born into a noble Florentine family, he is a contender for the papacy, but dies during a conclave, not without suspicions of poison…
Time and events carry us forward to the 1990s, when Roberta Previdi, the present owner and hostess, arrives. She recognises this harmonious meeting of architecture and nature and makes it a project of life and wine, expressed through an Amarone and two Valpolicella DOC wines, one of them a Superiore.
Architecture and memory
It is, as suggested, a fascinating project, reconciling business needs and personal desires with a firm resolve to remain within an environment where history is breathed and lived. History is everywhere: in the walls, fragments of wall painting originally intended to display wealth and noble status, objects and furnishings, and the elegant restraint of the residence’s portico…
Rooms unlike any others
Yet if a thousand stories can be imagined while looking at the villa from outside, within, just as many thoughts, lives and sensations become still more evident. Every room tells the story of the one before and the one after, without interruption, and the interior architecture is never predictable. One could lose oneself here, accustomed as we are to corridors and rooms in constant succession: buildings divided into rational, almost obligatory, if obvious, spaces designed for daily life. Not here. Bedrooms and bathrooms, kitchens and sitting rooms, libraries and dining rooms, studies and suites are without equal, each with its own identity and a thousand stories. It may sound like an easy exercise in empty praise, but even the pool has a character and grace entirely its own.
The care taken over every detail is unmistakable. Nothing is out of place or left to chance, and every room is unique, unlike any other in the residence. That is precisely the point: this is a residence rather than a hotel, an elegant country house where contemporary design pieces sit beside unique works of art, ancient and modern, and perfectly preserved period furniture. Torre di Terzolan neither resembles nor tries to approach anywhere else: it wants to be itself, and succeeds. Comparisons are beside the point for a place with such individuality, personality and identity.
Sleeping among the vines
A stay, even of a single night, offers something that cannot be experienced elsewhere, perhaps in the suite where celebrated film director Franco Zeffirelli stayed on more than one occasion. All around are stillness, hills, greenery and vines: this is what sleeping in a vineyard truly means.
Sources and images: Text by Andrea Matteucci. Photo credits: Torre di Terzolan. All image rights are reserved to their respective rights holders.
