Villas in Florence: Villa Le Balze in Fiesole
Together with Villa Medici and Villa Schifanoia, Villa Le Balze is one of the most interesting villas in Fiesole. The English architect Cecil Pinsent built the complex for the American philosopher Charles Augustus Strong at the beginning of the 20th century. The philosopher lived in the villa until he died, in 1939.
The villa stands on the steep slope of the hill of Fiesole and is surrounded by a magnificent garden divided into several different areas: the "garden of the oranges", originally a citrus fruit orchard, the "winter garden" and a small holm-oak thicket at the end of which opens a grotto featuring a fountain of sponges decorated with mosaics.
In 1979 Strong`s daughter, Margaret, gave the villa to Georgetown University.
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