In 1924, English-born biographer and writer Iris Origo (1902-1988) and her husband, Antonio, purchased La Foce, a sprawling estate centered around a half-ruined fifteenth-century villa with a dream that was as ambitious as it was audacious. Guided by a deep-seated desire to make a difference, the Origos dedicated their lives to transforming an impoverished terrain into a thriving landscape of wheat fields, olive groves, and vineyards.
With English architect Cecil Pinsent, they refurbished the house and designed an elegant terraced garden with box hedges, a rose garden, fountains, and a wisteria-covered pergola. The dramatic story of La Foce-from the taming of the wild valley and personal loss to wartime strife-is told by the Origos' granddaughter Katia Lysy, with reminiscences by Benedetta Origo, the couple's elder daughter.
The letters and diaries of Iris Origo weave beautifully into a personal narrative of the creation of the property and the people behind it. Newly commissioned photographs by Simon Upton and Matteo Carassale, a foldout annotated view of the property, and a recently discovered cache of unpublished images of the creation of the garden in the 1920s bring to life the rich history of the magnificent property.