Across the road from Villa Rotonda is Villa ai Nani, owned by another branch of the Valmarana family. The Villa, built in 1670, is not as old as La Rotonda. It is set in more extensive formal gardens and in addition to the main house, La Palazzina, there is a guesthouse larger than the main house. In 1736 the Valmarana family came into possession of the Villa and engaged Tiepolo father and son, Giambattista and Giadomenico, to decorate the villa. Walls of all the main rooms in the Palazzina are frescoed with scenes from classical literature — The Iliad, the Aeneid, Euripides, Torquato Tasso and Ludovico Ariosto. The nickname ai Nani means dwarves; the street side wall of the villa’s garden is topped with a series of statues of dwarves.
We had considerable difficulty getting a cab to take us back to Vicenza, a little more than a mile. We started in on what promised to be a leisurely stroll when a car pulled up beside us and offered us a ride, which we accepted. The driver was Maria Carolina Valmarana, owner of the villa, who thanked us for visiting her house. She also lives in the villa. The drive was too short and the conversation lively.
