Free The Perfect House: A Journey with Renaissance Master Andrea Palladio by Witold Rybczynski

Praise for The Perfect House
    “Rybczynski learned firsthand what made Palladio’s houses so attractive, so imitated, so perfect—and so could you.”
    —The Boston Globe
    “Insightful, deft . . . an easy-to-follow tour of Palladio’s greatest legacy.”
    —The Seattle Times
    “[A] wonderfully informative and evocative guide to both the elegant rooms of Palladio’s villas and the fascinating history of how a humble stonemason from Padua became one of the most influential architects of all time.”
    —Ross King, author of Brunelleschi’s Dome
    “[A] deeply able and aptly enchanted guide.”
    —Publishers Weekly
    “[Rybczynski] is one of our most original, accessible, and stimulating writers on architecture. . . . [ The Perfect House ] is a small but lasting gift to the reader.”
    — Library Journal
    “Rybczynski leads us through Palladio’s beautiful villas, illuminating each room for its own sake and in the process helping us understand what Palladio thought ‘the perfect house’ was, and where so many of our own ideas on that subject have come from. He puts his great historical and architectural knowledge to work to explain private houses—the small, the intimate, the domestic. The result is a delightful and enlightening book, full of warmth and intelligence.”
    —Cheryl Mendelson, author of Home Comforts
    “Rybczynski has applied all his usual grace, style, and curiosity to explore an important chapter of domestic history.”
    —The Philadelphia Inquirer
    “Evocative, compelling, charming, The Perfect House is the perfect traveling companion.”
    — The New York Times
    “Undoubtedly, this book will be immensely useful as a guide and handbook for anyone planning to make a tour of Palladian villas in Italy. . . . Rybczynski’s clear descriptions of what he sees and his lucid explanations of Palladio’s ideas and methods enable the reader to see and understand the essence of this architect’s accomplishments.”
    —Los Angeles Times
    The Perfect House “will doubtless serve as an amiable and knowledgeable companion for future pilgrims in search of [Palladio’s villas], providing the visitor an evenhanded historical introduction to Palladio and a thoughtful meditation on the extent and sheer complexity of the architect’s continuing presence in the cultural atmosphere.”
    —Dave Hickey, Harper’s

A NDREA P ALLADIO BY G IOVANNI B ATTISTA M AGANZA
    (Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura)

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To Shirley, once more

For one could not describe as perfect a building which was useful, but only briefly, or one which was inconvenient for a long time, or, being both durable and useful, was not beautiful.
    —A NDREA P ALLADIO

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Palladio’s Secret
    he Villa Saraceno at Finale di Agugliaro is one of Palladio’s early villas and not particularly renowned, which may be why I left it until last. I was driving to Finale, which is about fifteen miles south of Vicenza, when I was rear-ended by a delivery van. The rest of the drizzly afternoon was spent chatting to a friendly policewoman, waiting for a tow truck, and having my fender straightened and a sheet of plastic taped over the shattered rear window. By the time I got back on the road, I was in no mood to look at a villa. Taking the accident as an omen, I dropped the car off at the rental agency and spent the final days of my trip on foot. It was a chance to wander around Vicenza, where, as Vasari pointed out, there are so many Palladio buildings that “even if there were no others there, they would suffice to make a very handsome city with most beautiful surroundings.” 1 I never did get to Finale on that trip.
    After returning to Philadelphia, I came