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Top: Arts: Architecture: Building_Types: Houses: Villas

Detached houses for the wealthy built in the country or on the fringes of towns.

The Roman villa was the centre of a country estate.

The Italian renaissance villa provided a country retreat for wealthy families to escape from the summer heat of their palaces in the cities.

From the 18th century the English-speaking world used the term villa for a house without a large estate attached. This could be the chief residence of a middle-class family or a holiday home for a landed family with a country seat elsewhere.


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Last update: 10:18 PT, Saturday, October 25, 2003 - edit