The History of Villa Gamberaia
A Timeless Estate, Reimagined
First, her name: Gamberaia. Its gentle cadence evokes the quietude of rural life—perhaps whispering of freshwater shrimp once farmed in these hills. A humble detail, yet one that opens onto a centuries-spanning story of transformation, refinement, and rebirth.
The estate’s earliest mention dates to 1398, when the abbess of San Martino a Mensola granted a farmhouse and adjoining land in the “place called Gamberaia” to one Giovanni Benozzo. In the following century, the property passed to the Gamberelli family—likely the source of the villa’s name—and ancestors of the celebrated sculptors Antonio and Bernardo Rossellino, key figures of the Florentine Renaissance.
Suspended between hillside and sky, with sweeping views over the Arno valley, the estate was transformed in the early 1600s by Zanobi Lapi, a wealthy merchant and Medici courtier. It was Lapi who commissioned the construction of the villa and the gardens that still enchant visitors today. Designed in the spirit of late Florentine Mannerism, the garden composition features fountains, grottoes, and a remarkable hydraulic system, echoing the theatrical inventions of Giulio Parigi and the formal elegance of Ammannati and Buontalenti. Here, architecture becomes scenography—a dialogue between form, nature, and light.
In the 18th century, the estate passed to the Capponi and Cerretani families. Under their care, the gardens were refined into a vision of botanical order and balance. Detailed maps and engravings from this period, including those by Giuseppe Zocchi, document Gamberaia’s growing reputation as a garden of exceptional beauty—soon a celebrated stop along the Grand Tour.
Yet, as history moves in cycles, the estate eventually entered a phase of decline. By the late 19th century, signs of neglect had begun to take hold—until its fortunes changed once again with the arrival of Princess Jeanne Catherine Ghyka.
It was Ghyka—a Romanian noblewoman, artist, and visionary—who breathed new life into Gamberaia. Sweeping away the faded parterre, she conceived the villa’s most iconic feature: the parterre d’eau, a lyrical sequence of four water basins flanked by box hedges and cypress trees. These mirrored pools, reflecting sky and stone, remain one of the most photographed and admired garden compositions in Italy. Under her tenure, the villa became a discreet refuge for artists, aristocrats, and intellectuals, drawn by her cultivated sensibility and the rarefied aura of the estate.
The upheavals of the 20th century brought further change. The villa was sold in 1925 and passed through various hands; it suffered significant damage during World War II. But in 1954, Florentine industrialist Marcello Marchi acquired the estate and—with architect Raffaello Trinci—carried out an extensive restoration that returned both villa and gardens to their former dignity.
Since 1994, the Marchi family and the Zalum family have continued to care for Gamberaia with the same vision and dedication. Today, under the stewardship of their descendants and a dedicated Trust, Villa Gamberaia is experiencing a new renaissance—once again celebrated for the timeless elegance of its gardens, the quiet power of its architecture, and the spellbinding beauty of its setting.
