At Augustus Hotel & Resort in Forte dei Marmi, the Agnelli villa serves dinner in its pine garden. The family’s tunnel to the beach is still in use
Under the road in Forte dei Marmi, a private tunnel runs from Villa Agnelli to the sea. The Agnelli family had it built so they could reach the beach without crossing the street. Hotel guests use it today. According to the resort, it is the only building in Versilia with a direct underground link to the shore.
This season the villa, the family’s former summer house, has also opened its dining room. The Bistrot di Villa Agnelli serves dinner on the terrace and in the garden, to hotel guests and to diners from outside.
Villa Agnelli history: from Admiral Morin to Edoardo Agnelli
Admiral Morin built the house. Edoardo Agnelli, father of Gianni Agnelli, later bought it, and the family spent its summers there for more than thirty years. The interiors keep much of that period: the library is still in use, and several rooms retain their original Art Nouveau wallpaper. Pines shade the garden.
Bistrot di Villa Agnelli: the menu by Edoardo Leoni and Riccardo Angeli
The menu is by executive chef Edoardo Leoni and chef Riccardo Angeli, and draws on local produce and Versilian cooking. The tables are set with Ginori 1735 porcelain.
Augustus Hotel & Resort, Forte dei Marmi: Villa Pesenti, La Nave and the beach club
Villa Agnelli belongs to Augustus Hotel & Resort, a five-star property on the Versilia coast founded in 1953, and is run as part of Hotel Augustus Lido, one of the resort’s two main buildings. The rest of the resort is spread across a private park. Villa Pesenti, the original core of the hotel, sits at the centre, surrounded by a dozen garden villas, among them Villa Il Conventino, Villa Fiocchi and Villa Rondine. La Nave, a contemporary building, stands in the pine forest. The Augustus Beach Club has its own restaurant on the sand.
