Villa Frisiani Mereghetti, Historic villa in Corbetta, Italy

Villa Frisiani Mereghetti is the oldest dwelling in Corbetta, with parts of the building dating to the 14th century. It was later joined to a 15th-century structure whose walls were frescoed, and Francesco Maria Richini remodelled it in the 17th century, giving it its present appearance. Inside are coffered wooden ceilings, a monumental double-ramp staircase, and an English-style park crossed by the Fontanile della Madonna.

Parts of the villa date to the 14th century, when it was attached to the Castello di Sant'Ambrogio; it later became a private dwelling, decorated with paintings in the 16th century. In the 17th century the architect Francesco Maria Richini remodelled it, joining it to an existing 15th-century building whose walls had been frescoed, and gave it its present appearance.

The rooms inside display frescoes by Giovanni Stefano and Giuseppe Montalto with mythological subjects and symbolic scenes. These painted walls reflect the tastes and learning of the noble families who inhabited the space.

The villa stands in Corbetta, in the province of Milan, between the Castelletto and the Borri Manzoli villa near today's Piazza del Popolo. Its English-style park is split into a front section and a rear section crossed by the Fontanile della Madonna. The eighteenth-century cellars lie beneath the house.

The ground-floor study, decorated with allegories of the four seasons, holds one of the few known portraits of Francesco Maria Richini, painted within the fresco cycle by the Montalto brothers. The room's paintings were long compared to works by Tiepolo and Carlo Francesco Nuvolone, a comparison later shown to be mistaken.