Description:

Only ten minutes from Perugia and with views of the city, Mount Subasio and Assisi, this villa, whose past visitors include D'Annunzio and Marconi, dominates the countryside from the top of a low hill.
From research it is thought that property was bought in 1872 by Romeo Gallenga and his wife, an English noblewoman called Mary Montgomery Stuart.
The Gallenga family were part of the nobilty of Perugia and they played an important role in the history of the city as Palazzo Gallenga, home to the university for foreigners since 1927, testifies.
After they purchased the property the couple transformed it into the the neo-gothic castle it is today. A certain Biscarini, a noted architect of the time, employed the most famous local artists who worked on the property for 20 years.
The building, on five floors, is crowned by crenellations and dominated by an octagonal tower. The principal entance still has the perfectly maintained original door, framed withstone and embellished with family crests and painted plaster decorative elements.
It is pointless to describe the property by simply listing the number of bedrooms and rooms given that the building is so unusual. However, it is worth mentioning the bow windows in the tapestry room which are decorated in their entirity, the red salon, the study which has an amazing frescoed fireplace studded with family crests, or another reception room with coffered ceilings and bow windows. There is also the libarary, again with bow windows, painted ceilings and plaster work. Nearly every single room in the castle is filled with stunning embellishments.
The servants quarters on the second floor are obviously less decorative, as are the attic rooms on the top floor which are filled with light due to the presence of no less than four terraces.
Exterior steps, with marble treads, lead to the first floor of the building and carry on up through the octagonal tower which has an terrace with a 360 degree view of the surrounding area.
As one would expect, a tree lined drive leads to the building and the fenced park, consisting of six hectares of lawns and mature woodland, wraps around it. Entrance to the park is by means of two travertine marble entrance gateways that are flanked with smaller pedestrian gates.
The 'u' shaped stable block is on three floors; one of which is a basement. The horse boxes, made by the celebrated English firm of Musgraves, are constructed of cast iron and wood. A number of additional annexes complete the property.
As well as the above mentioned famous visitors, the building was the German command headquarters from 1943 - 1944 and has been one of the stop-off points for the Mille Miglia on more than one occasion.
A stunning, partially restored historical building in fabulous condition.