Restoration and Renovation
While the Marquesa's gift of the Villa Le Balze has placed a priceless property in Georgetown's hands, it has also created a serious responsibility. Over the last ten to fifteen years, the significance of Cecil Pinsent's work in landscape architecture has increasingly gained recognition.
The design and deft integration of house and grounds on a difficult hillside above Florence make the Villa Le Balze the supreme example of Pinsent's architectural vision. As the custodian of Pinsent's quintessential work, Georgetown is responsible to restore and preserve it for the future.
A bench was donated in honor of Father Royden B. Davis SJ
In restoring, maintaining, and refurbishing the Villa, Georgetown will not only preserve the design of an historically important landscape, it will also, in the years to come, be positioned to provide not only students, alumni, parents, friends, but also visiting scholars from Georgetown and other institutions around the world an attractive and functional center for study, reflection, and conversation, a place for men and women of all ages to grow wise.
In 2007, Georgetown initiated a new renovation campaign that will introduce significant improvements to the buildings and facilities. This project is on target to be completed in Fall 2008.
The foyer of the Villa
A comprehensive survey of the buildings and grounds of the Villa Le Balze by a team of architectural conservators from De Montfort University in Leicester, England, under the leadership of Professor Vincent Shacklock, has made clear that Pinsent's design for the main house has left it structurally sound, and that the gardens around the house continue to reflect his essential vision for the property.
At the same time, the survey made clear the need for restoration and maintenance and led to such projects as the repair of the south facade of the main house, the replacement of the roof and the damp-proofing of the internal walls of the Villino, the repair and replacement of the retaining walls of the grounds.
The side of the Villa