Il Salviatino, Parto of the Salviatino Collection

Welcome to the inaugural post of the Club Salviatino Blog. As most of you probably realize, Stanford University occupied the villa il Salviatino in Firenze ~ Fiesole as its campus in Italy during the 1970’s and 1980’s. The villa has now become the most fashionable, elegant, up-scale, and luxurious resort in Italy, thanks to a massive renovation of the property since 2008. The property’s history, like so many beautiful and famous villas in Florence is part-legend and completely engaging, pieced-together as it is from often vague and mysterious documents originating almost 600 years ago. Since photography was uncommon until the turn of the 20^th century, the oldest photo of the villa we have found seems to be from that period:

At the turn of the 20th Century © il Salviatino

But its provenance from the 20^th Century is relatively clear and fascinating. The villa was purchased by Ugo Ojetti, who established it as a significant salon of art, literature, politics, and ideas. The renovation of the villa was meant to recapture its historic grandeur, and the creation of Club Salviatino was intended to herald a new era of stimulating intellectual and cultural pursuits for its world-traveling guests. Here is a photo of the villa from April, 2010:

Il Salviatino today © il Salviatino

Every attempt has been made to keep the villa true to its heritage of upper class elegance through understatement in its interior décor. Worthy of a spread in the Italian equivalent of Architectural Digest, Il Salviatino combines candles, silver, leather, wood, and classic oil paintings with a minimalist sensitivity that calms rather than overwhelms. Machiavelli would feel at ease here, as would a Medici or a Grimaldi.

The Terrace Bar from the main stairway © il Salviatino

Club Salviatino’s mission is to create for travelers experiences not otherwise obtainable. Our events featuring world experts in their fields will generate a joie de vivre within our guests that will permeate their lives and motivate annual returns to this Renaissance city on the Arno.

This blog will chronicle events at Il Salviatino, guests’ reactions to this magical place, and an ongoing log of what is happening in Firenze and Toscana that excites the spirit and warms the soul. While the primary perspective will be mine, I will welcome guest-bloggers from time to time as enrichment to this experience. Without a rigid adherence to these topics, we expect our events over the ensuing months to cover: art, music, film, wine, ideas, and gardens. Florence has been one of the richest repositories for each of these subjects for centuries. Our goal will be to reveal them in current context for the pleasure of our members and guests. Keep an eye on this blog; allow your opinion to be heard here; help guide us in the celebration of the culture of Western Civilization.

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