An Italian Renaissance villa above Lake Michigan. This watercolour captures Villa Terrace, the bluff-top mansion built in 1923–24 for Lloyd R. Smith, president of the A.O. Smith Corporation, and his wife Agnes.
 
Designed by Milwaukee-born architect David Adler, who studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the villa was inspired by the Villa Cicogna Mozzoni in Lombardy, Italy, a 16th-century estate the Smiths had visited. Originally named Sopra Mare, Italian for "above the sea" even, its whitewashed pink brick walls were quarried and carved in Italy.
 
A vaulted veranda supported by Tuscan columns overlooks Lake Michigan, while terraces and a Renaissance garden cascade down the bluff through water stairways, fishponds, and two hidden secret gardens.
 
 In 1966, Agnes Smith Curtis donated the home to Milwaukee County, and it became the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, housing fine and decorative arts from the 15th through 18th centuries alongside the world's largest collection of Cyril Colnik's work.
 
Interesting facts...
 
The villa's two secret gardens are hidden within the terraced landscape, designed to be discovered rather than seen from a distance which makes them quite magical.
 The villa celebrated its centennial in 2024 with 100 events marking 100 years. It even held a Murder Mystery at the Villa, with live actors event where guests become detectives, uncovering hidden clues and interrogating suspects. count me in !
 
Location: 2220 N. Terrace Ave, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States