The series featuring the interiors of Italian homes was launched in 2009 with Case di Torino and continued in the following decade with Case di Montagna, Case di Genova, Case di Milano, Case di Genova e della Riviera, Case del Gavi e dintorni, Case di Napoli, Living in Portofino, Living in Rome, Lombard Villas and Stately Homes, and House-Museums in Lombardy. Now, it is again the turn of Milan and a stunning selection of mansions in the city centre, as hugely understated in their external appearance as they are resoundingly spectacular on the inside, virtuous examples of how to safeguard the aristocratic identity of the city.

Milan has many faces but one soul. Its many faces are those of finance, fashion and skyscrapers designed by archistars while its soul is hidden away in old aristocratic and bourgeois mansions. Memories recorded in stone, precious testimonies of the glorious past of a city that refuses to stop growing but cannot renounce its distinction as the moral capital of Italy.

For the first time, 21 entrances opened their doors to the inquisitive lens of an architect familiar with the words of Victor Hugo: “There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul.”

Ludovica Orombelli graduated in architecture. After working for a time in a Milan office, she is now a real estate broker for a prestigious agency in Milan city centre. Her passion for the history of architecture and the art of gardens led her to join Valerio Villoresi in the editing of Lombard Villas and Stately Homes (2014) published by AdArte.

Valerio Villoresi is a chartered accountant. He is President of the «Ville, Dimore e Corti Lombarde» association and of the «Fondazione Dario Mellone». A lover of Italian art and literature, he edited many books including a tetralogy on his forbear Emilia; Un giorno nel tempo. Villa Rescalli Villoresi e Fondazione Mellone (Congedo, Lecce 2013) and is the author of the novel A tutto gas e senza freni. Gigi Villoresi: amori e dolori di un mito tra Maserati, Ferrari e Lancia (Minerva, Bologna 2022). With AdArte he has published Lombard Villas and Stately Homes (2014) and House-Museums in Lombardy (2019).

Andrea Livio Volpato is from Milan and graduated in 1993 in architecture. He works as a freelance developer, architectural model-maker and photographer. Over the years, photography has progressed from a hobby to a constant companion. He has entered numerous competitions and exhibitions. His free time is centred on travelling, DIY and reading; a lover of films, and music and AdArte has published his Lombard Villas and Stately Homes (2014) and House-Museums in Lombardy (2019).