Villa Necchi Campiglio, Milan

Villa Necchi Campiglio is a house museum, and its clean, confident design comes from architect Piero Portaluppi. Built between 1932 and 1935 as an independent family home, it combines modernismo with Italian rationalism and was created for an elegant yet comfortable way of living. The villa is set within a private garden containing a tennis court and swimming pool.

That pool carries an extraordinary distinction: it was Milan’s second swimming pool, after the municipal one, and the earliest built on privately owned land. Look at the severe geometry of the exterior, then notice how the interiors introduce a different mood. From 1938, architect Tomaso Buzzi reshaped some rooms and furnishings with inspiration from eighteenth-century art, replacing Portaluppi’s spare character with softer, more elaborate decoration.

The house also reveals how advanced its original facilities were, with an elevator, dumbwaiter, intercoms, telephones and a heated pool. After restoration directed by architect Piero Castellini, the villa opened to the public in May 2008. Its cinematic life includes Luca Guadagnino’s I Am Love, filmed here in 2009, and Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci.