The Dream Garden of La Scarzuola

Have you ever gone to a place and then afterwards

 said to yourself, "well, that was something different!"

The other night we were at a garden party at Stew's, and after too much wine, Elida said she was going to show us all a surprise tomorrow.

After a harrowing half hour drive, we arrived at La Scarzuola, outside the town of Montegabbione.

Elida's friend Marco gave us a private tour. He is the nephew of the architect, Tomaso Buzzi, the designer of this miniature fantasy city based on the celebrated Hypnerotomachia Polifili, a nearly incomprehensible

(did we say nearly?) philosophical romance written in 1499.

Believe me this is not your typical outsider crackpot that builds entire cities out of bottle caps.

It is all constructed of local tufa and tile, and it was designed to decay. To become a ruin.

It is all about referencing the past, to be in the present while anticipating the future.

We leave La Scarzuola, through a tiny key hole door.

We did not dream at all that night.

Photos courtesy Stew Vreeland and his amazing technicolor camera.