Casa Necchi Campiglio, an Exclusive Villa in the Heart of Milan

Between the two world wars, Milan’s high society all came together at Villa Necchi Campiglio. Not far from San Babila and Quadrilatero d’Oro, the residence still maintains the atmosphere of those years - the verdant and silent garden, the rationalist architecture of Piero Portaluppi, the luxury and avant-garde technology that is emblematic of the home, as much today as it once was. While the exterior caused a stir with its private swimming pool - the first in all of Milan except for the city pool itself - the three floors inside the villa stand out thanks to its comforts that were quite exceptional at the time - a dumbwaiter, elevators and intercoms, even a gym and a screening room, witness to a whole new way of spending one’s free time. But who were the Necchi Campiglios? The sisters Nedda and Gigina Necchi and Angelo Campiglio, Gigina’s husband, were part of the industrial elite, dynamic and refined, connected with the production of sewing machines, refrigerators and cast iron. Originally from Pavia, they entrusted the project of their Milanese residence to Portaluppi, an archistar ahead of his time, known for his innovative ideas. The homes refined Art Deco and neo-Seventeen-Hundreds decor welcomed such special guests as Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoia and Prince Enrico d’Assia, who had their own special apartments reserved for them at Casa Necchi Campiglio. A rich art collection graces the home-museum today with Italian works from the 1900s (Boccioni, Carrà, Balla, De Chirico, Morandi) as well as the XVIII Century (Canaletto, Tiepolo, Rosalba Carriera).