The Villa Landor

Since quitting Ithaca after his wife’s death, Willard Fiske had rented the Villa Forini, in Florence. His wish, however, was to own a historic Italian property. Once the Supreme Court decided the McGraw Fiske will case in his favor, his expanded income allowed him to buy a villa. Indeed, he soon discovered and bought the home of the English poet, Walter Savage Landor, in Fiesole, a suburb of Florence. Its historic name was the Villa Gherardesca, and Fiske delighted in rumors that Boccaccio had set some of his scenes on the villa’s grounds. Finding the property in very poor condition, Fiske immediately launched a series of extensive renovations on the house and gardens, and filled the house with fine furnishings imported from the United States and England. Even before the villa was fully restored, Fiske was known throughout the British and American expatriate community as a congenial host.

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