An Italian Villa That Houses 30,000 Beetles and a Flock of Porcelain Birds (Published 2023)

The article delves into the unique and eclectic home of Giorgio Taroni, a 77-year-old collector and chatelain, located in a 9,000-square-foot lakeside villa overlooking Lake Como, Italy. Built in the early 1900s by his grandfather, silk industrialist Ettore Taroni, the eight-bedroom, three-story house is designed to maximize views, featuring a buff-colored brick exterior and a gray stone tile roof, surrounded by a half-acre of gardens. Inside, the villa is described as a private museum, meticulously organized and filled with Giorgio Taroni's vast collections, spanning entomology, textile design, illustration, rationalist art, ancient coins, and local history. The narrative also incorporates the perspective of Giorgio's son, Guido Taroni, 35, a photographer residing in Milan. Guido recounts his childhood, spent commuting between his parents' distinct homes. His mother, Anna Gastel, 70, a descendant of two prominent Italian families (Visconti di Modrone and Erba), lived across the lake in a converted 12th-century Benedictine convent, a 40-room yellow stucco villa with Empire-style trompe l'oeil frescoes. Guido describes an idyllic childhood, often navigating Lake Como by ferry, which his parents allowed him to steer, transporting himself, his sister, and cousins between the two residences. The article highlights Giorgio Taroni's past as the chief designer of Taroni Disegni, a firm producing extravagantly patterned silks for fashion brands like Versace and Valentino. His passion for collecting led to nearly every surface of his home being adorned with his possessions. The entry hall features porcelain parrots and ceramic animals, while a two-story salon, once repainted yearly in vivid hues, now showcases over 300 oil paintings of the Como environs against Ferrari red walls with saffron trim. The furniture is upholstered in fabrics from Taroni Disegni's archives, and the floor is a mosaic of multihued cotto lombardo shards. A smaller ground-floor salon, painted peacock blue, displays canvases by abstractionist Manlio Rho, and the dining room walls are covered with drawings of vintage French seed packets. The garden house, formerly the textile design team's workspace, has been converted into a climate-controlled library, housing thousands of first-edition design books, silk-screens, and original fabric paintings. This library also contains an 18th-century series of watercolors used as tapestry patterns by Aubusson weavers, a collection rare enough to be compared to those in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The second floor of the villa is where Taroni's entomological collection reaches its peak: over 30,000 stag beetles, ranging in size and iridescent colors, meticulously mounted and hand-labeled, are stored in custom-made wooden flat files. Alongside these are pre-Napoleonic coins and various ephemera, including 19th and early 20th-century advertising, vintage postcards, and nearly 20,000 paper cigar bands. Guido Taroni, inspired by his father's collecting habits, has cultivated his own collections in his Milan apartment, including vintage ceramic jars by Piero Fornasetti, ceramic dishware designed by Gio Ponti, and framed photographs of couture gowns from his maternal great-grandmother's trunk. He is also undertaking the revival of Gi.Vi.Emme, a historical fragrance brand founded by his great-grandfather, actively collecting vintage perfume bottles, gift boxes, and advertisements for the line. This endeavor mirrors his father's meticulous collecting, demonstrating a generational continuation of an deep appreciation for history and design. #ItalianVilla #LakeComo #EclecticDecor #ArtCollection #EntomologyCollection #TextileDesign #FamilyLegacy #HistoricHomes #InteriorDesign #Collecting #ItalianVilla #LakeComo #EclecticDecor #ArtCollection #EntomologyCollection #TextileDesign #FamilyLegacy #HistoricHomes #InteriorDesign #Collecting