Villa Malaspina, Renaissance villa in Fosdinovo, Italy

Villa Malaspina rises on three floors at the foot of the hills of Fosdinovo, near Sarzana. Its base has a battered, fortress-like profile, and the main facade once overlooked the bridge over the Isolone stream. Inside, a two-ramp staircase leads to the noble floor and its frescoed halls; outside lie an Italian-style garden with box-edged beds, a central fishpond and a walled vegetable garden.

The property evolved from a medieval square tower documented in the Pelavicino code of 1231. Gabriele III Malaspina transformed it into a summer residence in 1724, giving it the form we see today.

The main hall of the piano nobile was frescoed by Antonio Contestabile of Piacenza, who also worked in Pontremoli; a second hall was painted in 1728 by Giovan Battista Natali of Pontremoli. The villa also holds a double-height hall and a library facing the garden.

The villa remains privately owned by the Zuccarino family from Carrara and can be viewed from the outside. Access to the interior typically requires prior arrangement, as it functions as a private residence.

In 1722 Carlo Francesco Agostino's sons Gabriele and Azzolino saw a figure in a dressing gown at a window of the empty villa and recognised their dead father. The factor opened the house and found no one; the Governor of Fivizzano, Guglielmo Capponi, reported the affair to his superiors.