Villa Macchi in Morazzone: under the dust, a treasure to be enhanced

Morazzone is a small town located on a hill, a few kilometers from Varese, known above all for the painter of the same name and for the wine that is produced here. But in a few years there will be one more element to give prestige to the town: the Villa Macchi bequeathed to Fai.Fai is  a non-profit foundation and its main goal is to protect Italian places promoting their knowledge, care and conservation.

The love of Fai for the Italian historical and environmental beauty, we know it well here in the Varese area.
In fact, the Monastery of Torba in Gornate Olona, ​​managed by Fai, is part of a Unesco heritage.
But under his management there are also the Villa Panza in Varese, home to a prestigious collection of American paintings, and the delightful Villa Bozzolo in Casalzuigno, and not far away other small jewels that drive the many tourists who come to us exspecially from Milan and from northern Europe.
To these will be added the house of Maria Luisa Macchi, a wealthy lady who never wanted to marry and who lived there, with her parents, until the seventies. The lady had a shy nature and was little known in the village, and only frequented her small family circle. He lived in that house for many years in complete solitude, in the company of only a few pets. But when, at a certain point, he realized he was no longer able to manage himself independently, he voluntarily moved to a retirement home and spent the last years of his life there.
The news of the bequest to the Fai left the FAI management by surprise, who, not knowing the lady directly, did not expect such a “gift”.
The lady, together with the house, also bequeathed a fair amount of money to provide for the necessary restoration, a sum which, however, was immediately insufficient to carry out her purpose.
In fact, work is needed to consolidate the structure (there are unsafe parts, broken floors) and to adapt to the necessary safety standards, mandatory in spaces open to the public.

The place is interesting not so much for the artistic level – there are no furnishings or paintings inside that have a real monetary value – as for the historical value. The furniture, the coverings, each of the objects that emerge from the dust of the years, restore the charm of the Lombard bourgeois houses of the early twentieth century.

There are tall, narrow beds covered in heavy brocades edged with trimmings, English hunting prints and old framed family photos hanging all over the place, gray and bulky televisions set like knick-knacks next to amphorae and pewter objects, and of course there is no shortage of classic “grandmother’s services” with cups and teapots decorated with brightly colored flowers.
It was the large presence of furnishings, so typical of a certain “small ancient world” taste of wealthy families in northern Italy, which convinced Fai to take charge of the Villa and to make the appropriate assessments to exploit its full potential.
In agreement with the Municipality and the Lombardy Region, it was decided to make Casa Macchi the fulcrum of an overall relaunch of the historic center of Morazzone. There is a lot of money to invest (we are talking about 2 million euros), but you can bet that there will be an important return, on various fronts.
The restoration of Villa Macchi will be just one of the many pieces that will complete the mosaic of an overall revaluation of the area, such as to capture the attention of a certain type of cultural and sustainable tourism.

The photos were taken during the extraordinary opening of the Villa in the Fai Spring Days 2018