Villa Varda, Renaissance villa in Brugnera, Italy

Villa Varda is a Venetian-style country house in San Cassiano di Livenza, a hamlet of Brugnera, at Via Villa Varda 7. It stands in a large park along the Livenza, which holds an orangery with a stone balustraded terrace, a neo-Gothic family chapel, an ice house topped in 1932 by a crenellated tower, and a mausoleum.

The villa dates to the 15th century, when the Mazzoleni family from Bergamo acquired land at Varda and built their residence. In 1670 Fabio Mazzoleni added a chapel in the park as his burial place. Lacking heirs, he left the property to his uncle Ottavio Negri; it later passed to many owners, including the Morpurgo, who restored the buildings in the mid-19th century and, under Carlo, reshaped the park as an English landscape garden. Mario Morpurgo bequeathed villa and estate to the Seminary of Concordia-Pordenone; today it belongs to the Comune of Brugnera.

The name Varda probably comes from "Guarda" or "Guardia", perhaps because of an earlier defensive work on the site. Fabio Mazzoleni, the last learned member of the family, had a chapel built in the park in 1670 and planned his own burial there. Today the villa and its grounds belong to the Comune of Brugnera and serve as a public park.

The villa and park are owned by the Comune of Brugnera and the park is open to all as a public municipal park. Enter from Via Villa Varda 7 in San Cassiano di Livenza. The grounds run along the Livenza river, so expect uneven paths through the wooded area.

In 1990 the villa and its park served as the main location for Fabio Carpi's film L'amore necessario. The park also holds a neoclassical-style family chapel that Fabio Mazzoleni added in 1670 and where he planned his own burial, plus an ice house topped in 1932 with a crenellated tower.