Exterior and interior photos of Villa Saraceno

Villa Saraceno

Finale, Vicenza

This year marks the 500th anniversary of Andrea Palladio, the most influential architect of the Italian Renaissance. During the peaceful years in the middle of the sixteenth century, Italian culture displayed a desire to escape the bustle of city life that is strangely familiar today. Many of the villas that Palladio built achieved this ideal survive scattered amongst the fertile plains of the Veneto. Villa Saraceno is the only one of Palladio's creations which can be rented as a whole for a holiday.

Villa Saraceno was built around 1550 for Biagio Saraceno and is an important example of Palladio's early work. After decades of neglect, the villa was carefully restored by the Landmark Trust to its former glory and Palladio's original design.

You enter Villa Saraceno by way of the grand sala above which there are huge granaries to explore. To our delight, beneath layers of limewash we found lively frescoed friezes running around the sala's lofty cornices showing mythological dramas. The sala is flanked by spacious apartments in which to dine and sit, whilst the bedrooms found in the adjoining earlier buildings have a simple elegance.

The loggia offers a cool area in which to relax out of the sun whilst the walled grounds provide a sense of seclusion, perfect for a quiet evening stroll in search of a ripe fig (and if younger members of the party are so inclined, they make a splendid playing field).

This year is the 500th anniversary of Andrea Palladio. There is a major exhibition running on his life and works from the 31 January to 13 April 2009 in the Royal Academy of Arts, London.

The villa can sleep up to 16 people and is the only one of Palladio's villas wholly available to rent for holidays from 3 nights up to 3 week stays. Prices start from £304 per night for minimum of 3 nights.

• For up to 16 people
• Open fire
• Enclosed garden
• Adjacent parking
• Dogs allowed