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The Villa is the private residence of the Deciani Counts, and has belonged to the family since the end of the 19th Century when the actual owner’s grandfather married the last heir of the Counts Gallici. It was built in the late 17th Century, over the ruins of a pre-existing possibly medieval construction (castle). Count Luigi, the current resident as seen pictured, is the son of Countess Giulia Cattaneo Deciani, a heroine of the Italian Resistance and the driving force behind the post-war restoration of the villa. Her determined personality, which her son Count Luigi shares, can be seen in letters sent to her by grateful soldiers she nursed on the Russian front and in Italy while serving with the American Red Cross establishing her reputation as a latter-day Florence Nightingale.
The Gallici Family, originally from Bergamo (Lombardia), moved to Friuli in the late 17th Century to establish a flourishing activity in advanced agriculture and a printing enterprise in Udine. Deciani is an ancient local family, whose origins date back to the 14th Century, and among their most famous ancestors is the well-known Jurisconsult Tiberio Deciani, who lived during the 16th Century and whose texts about criminal law are still used in the Italian universities.
During the 18th Century the Villa has been entirely decorated with most valuable stuccos and frescoes in delicate shades of colours and elegantly furnished. To the same époque belong the fine pavements made of ‘terrazzo veneziano’ (mosaic). After being damaged and restored after the First World War, it has been used as a summer residence until the beginning of the Second World War, when it was occupied first by the German troops and then by the Allied forces.
Count Luigi resides year round in the Villa but all of his family gather here for holidays, festivities and special occasions. Many of these happen under the majestic 300 year old Cedar tree, which according to family tradition was brought as a wedding gift by a family member who travelled to the Middle East. It was planted in the raised garden to mark the event and after many years and thunderstorms, it has still stood strong as an emblem of the deep roots the family have with the Villa. Luigi’s daughter Margherita lives in Paris with her husband and young daughter, where she has a very successful career as a fashion designer in one of the top French “Maisons”. Luigi is pictured with Margherita on her wedding day, and as family is very important to him, he was honoured to be able to host her special day and hopes his granddaughter can experience the same memories in the near future.
The Villa suffered damages to the insides during the military occupation, as well as wounds to the structure via a massive earthquake which devastated the region in 1976 making the house practically out of use. Immediately after the earthquake the Villa’s structure was restored to such a high standard that the owners moved to live there in 1987 and began – by themselves – a strong intervention of renovation and reconstruction in order to make it their permanent residence. Since then, they’ve opened parts of the building and the park to guests for different kinds of events inside and around the Villa, ensuring it stands and creates memories for many generations to come.
