Franco Zeffirelli's Luxury Amalfi Villa Now Open To Public As Decadent Retreat

Franco Zeffirelli's Luxury Amalfi Villa Now Open To Public As Decadent Retreat

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Leonard Bernstein, Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Olivier, Maria Callas... these are but a few of the prestigious names to have graced the corridors of the Italian opera and film director, Franco Zeffirelli's luxury villa on the Amalfi Coast.

For 35 years Villa Tre Ville gave Zeffirelli The opportunity to put together my mind with those of creative geniuses. Yet in 2003 he sold his luxury estate claiming I cannot enjoy it any more, and so it is right that other people should be able to enjoy it."

This month Zeffirelli's former retreat opened its doors to the public as a luxury hotel, offering guests the chance to share rooms with the memories of film stars who have spent their nights here. The villa has links to the arts dating back to the 1920s when it acted as a refuge to Russian cultural exiles. Sergei Daghielev used to stay here. In recent years Villa Tre Ville has added Elton John and Liza Minnelli to its guest book.

The villa was bought by local hotel owner Giovanni Russo in 2003, and his plight has been to keep it as close to it was when Zeffirelli left it. The main sweet here retains much of the personal affects the director left behind, in the master sweet, guests can browse through the library Zeffirelli left behind. Russo said of his investment, The thinking was to change as little as possible, and we have made really very few changes.

Of the major changes made to the location is regards its accessibility. Previously getting to the villa proved a Herculean task, Zeffirelli's biographer, David Sweetman, described the less than luxurious trip, "It took hours. The taxi bill was unreal, but eventually we arrived at the top of this little winding road. And there was just a gate, and I had to go down all these bloody stairs to the villa."

In order to help the guests destined for Villa Tre Ville, the new owner has installed a lift to help visitors down. This was the real change we made, said Russo, and it was a major work of engineering.

Zeffirelli speaks fondly of his time at the villa. He describes his time owning the estate as, The very best years of my life, when I was climbing the steps of my career. But it could not go on forever. The time of climbing the steps of Positano is over. And I have a beautiful house in Rome where I can read and entertain my friends.

Now at 87 he remains thoroughly active, and has just completed a cycle of successful operas in Verona. Though work has gradually diminished and this year he is booked to direct only three operas.

While Zeffirelli's villa will be attracting a very well-polished breed of visitor charging up 5000 Euros per night, Italy has become a popular destination for tourists on all kinds of budgets. There are many luxurious privately owned villas in Italy, pulling in tourists for a summer abroad after stringent summers spent holidaying at home.

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