Here you are at the Terrazza, in front of the Prima Vasca. The Prima Vasca is one of the sections built during the early 20th century when Arthur Acton started the Neo Renaissance garden project. The garden’s scheme consisted of an axial grid on descending levels. In the center of the Prima Vasca is an ancient fountain with an octagonal-shaped basin, and a sculpture on the top. The fountain is surrounded by four stone benches and geometrical plots of grass hemmed in by clipped hedges of the box.
Following Arthur Acton’s desire for an open-air gallery, the Prima Vasca is enclosed by evergreen walls with niches, decorative recesses set into the wall for displaying statues and vases. The artworks were arranged aesthetically to their best advantage, regardless of any symbolic message they might convey. Images from the Photo Archive reveal the Actons regularly moved the elements in the garden based on their taste. Occasionally, they sold the statues to renew the garden’s sections, and, sometimes, they they bought new ones and later designed a garden space to encircle them. This area was often visited by the friends of the family, as documented by a recently discovered homemade 35 mm film shot here.