History

The Villa of Maiano, the ancient owner’s residence of the Maiano farmhouse, is located among the wonderful hills situated between Fiesole and Settignano and it is known to be one of the most peculiar villas in this area.

Once known as Palagio degli Alessandri, it was completely destroyed by a strong hurricane in 1467 which forced the owner Bartolomeo degli Alessandri to sell the large family homestead to cover the heavy debts he had to face to rebuild the house.
In the first half of the XVI century the house became property of the Sforza family and later on property of the Buonagrazia family, then in 1546 the noble Pazzi family bought the Villa. The Pazzi family was able to carry on and hand down the glorious memory of the Villa, thanks to their illustrious ancestors like Alfonso de' Pazzi – remembered as collaborator of the Accademia degli Umidi and of the Accademia della Crusca – or Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi. Born in the old “Palagio”, beatified in 1610 and canonized in 1669, she wrote impressive descriptions and personal memories of the Villa and its countryside .
After the death of Luigi Cosimo Pazzi the noble branch of the Pazzi family became extinct in the XVIII century, so the Villa passed on to the Gucci Tolomei, a rich textile merchant family from Siena up to the day when it was bought by Sir John Temple Leader in 1850. He purchased the Villa under a particular clause which said “with closed gates” i.e. including all that was once contained in the historical dwelling.
The Villa of Maiano soon became his preferred residence and business headquarters, as well as the very first step of a long and complex work of restoration which the rich and extravagant English politician extended to the surroundings and the nearby castle of Vincigliata.
Temple Leader wanted in fact to build his dreamy fief characterized by magnificent architectural, sculptural and landscape features inspired by the Medieval Age and The Renaissance according to the typical historical revisitation of the beginning of 1800. Under the supervision of Sir John Temple Leader, the architect Felice Francolini was appointed to the total renovation of the Villa in full respect of the medieval structure of the house. One additional floor and a tower with a loggia, which present elements of gothic style and reflects the taste for medieval architecture, were added to the house. In the inner part of the house in correspondence to the tower, Francolini transformed the old central courtyard into a large ball room in neorinascimental style.
Upon Sir Temple Leader’s death in 1903, all his properties passed to his great nephew Richard Bethell Lord Westbury, who sold the villa to Professor Teodoro Stori, a famous Florentine surgeon married to Elisabetta Corsini. She devoted herself with love and passion to the maintenance of the historical dwelling, the same love and passion that the current owner, her niece Countess Lucrezia Miari Fulcis dei Principi Corsini inherited together with the Villa.