Villa Montanine today is a graceful XVth century building overlooking a lovely stretch of countryside bordered by Fiesole and the Apennine mountains.
One of its previous owners, in 1490, was Raffaello di Francesco Girolami the last head of the Florentine Republic and gonfalonier during the city tragic siege of 1530. After Florence surrendered to the Spanish troops, Francesco Girolami was imprisoned in Pisa citadel and later died of poisoning. In the second half of the XVIIth century, the Villa became the residence of Archbishop Francesco de' Nerli and his brother Filippo, trustee and secret treasurer to Pope Alexander VII.
Later on, the Villa belonged among others to the Cantagallis, the Bonaccorsi Perinis, the Benvenutis; during WWII it was the home of Mrs Mary Pritchard Agnetti, the American widow of Senator Alberto Agnetti, who left a lively account of the time in her diaries.
In 1952 it was acquired by Vittorio Casanova (left), from Monza, whose daughters and grandchildren now run the estate.
Leaving Villa Montanine, the road takes you further on a cypress drive to Villa Poggio ai Grilli. From there you will dominate the valley of Greve and one of the widest panoramas to be found in the area with Florence and the Appennines in the background. The original building dates back to the end of the XIXth century and was later enlarged by Vittorio Casanova who bought it in 1939 and who added to it a series of galleries, loggias and balconies as well as the surrounding garden.