Laetitia
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When one speaks of the Brown Castle it is normal to think immediately of Portofino, however few know that the castle in Paraggi also belonged to the Browns. Timothy Yeats Brown, originally of a Scotch family, following the romantic footsteps of the poets Byron and Shelly, came to Italy, to Portovenere where he lived on the island of Palmaria.
When he was named console of the United Kingdom to Genoa, he moved here with his family and raised his children who, while being British citizens felt Genoese in sentiment and loved Portofino. The oldest boy, Montagu, became console of S. M. Britannica when his father died. The second boy, Federico, was a great industrialist and businessman of the end of the nineteenth century.
The castle of Portofino, which was a Genoese fort and over the centuries belonged to the Florentines, the French, the Spanish, and, after Waterloo, was conquered by the English, has very ancient origins. Montagu Brown acquired it from the State in 1870 for seven thousand liras and had it adapted for civil habitation by the noted architect Alfredo D'Andrade; from this splendid position he dominated the two seas and could see below him the village of Portofino and all the bays and ravines that mark the coast towards Santa Margherita Ligure. On the terrace that in the past had been the esplanade of the fort, he planted two pine trees that today, having grown imposing and stately, characterize the castle.
He furnished the inside with furniture that came from clipper ships in that austere and aristocratic style so characteristic of the English of that epoch. On the walls of the studio of the castle hung paintings of Moeris and an authentic Hogarth copy. Montagu Brown invited many people in his castle.
Lord Carnavon, the noted egyptologist who discovered the tomb of Tut-Anch Amon (and who with his wife and collaborators were subject to a famous curse) and the Baron Von Mumm, an industrialist and the producer of a champagne of the same name, lived close by; the former in Villa Altachiara, foto, and the latter in the "San Giorgio" castle. They both became good friends of the Browns and often exchanged visits.
When Frederick Brown, the younger brother of Montagu, married in 1882 he acquired the Castle in Paraggi, foto, by then in disuse. It had belonged to the Fieschis in the middle ages and later used by the Genoese Republic as a defense against pirates as well as to block the landing of victims of the plague.
Notwithstanding the fact that it was originally a military design, it was possible to adapt it to use as a luxurious residence for prestigious guests. The original project of transformation from a fort to a villa was done by Frederick himself.
When he first submitted the design to his friend the artist James Harris, who was later to become a baron and British Console in Nice, he was told that it would disfigure the castle. On the advice of a friend of the family, the architect Alfredo D'Andrade, the project was entrusted to an engineer by the name of Tamburelli. In restructuring the castle, Tamburelli abolished the narrow moat (and as a consequence its connecting bridge) that ran along the cliff behind the structure and had it filled with stone. In place of the existing battery of cannons he had built a fragile but charming loggia that was thought precarious by contemporaries but which still exists today.
When he was named console of the United Kingdom to Genoa, he moved here with his family and raised his children who, while being British citizens felt Genoese in sentiment and loved Portofino. The oldest boy, Montagu, became console of S. M. Britannica when his father died. The second boy, Federico, was a great industrialist and businessman of the end of the nineteenth century.
The castle of Portofino, which was a Genoese fort and over the centuries belonged to the Florentines, the French, the Spanish, and, after Waterloo, was conquered by the English, has very ancient origins. Montagu Brown acquired it from the State in 1870 for seven thousand liras and had it adapted for civil habitation by the noted architect Alfredo D'Andrade; from this splendid position he dominated the two seas and could see below him the village of Portofino and all the bays and ravines that mark the coast towards Santa Margherita Ligure. On the terrace that in the past had been the esplanade of the fort, he planted two pine trees that today, having grown imposing and stately, characterize the castle.
He furnished the inside with furniture that came from clipper ships in that austere and aristocratic style so characteristic of the English of that epoch. On the walls of the studio of the castle hung paintings of Moeris and an authentic Hogarth copy. Montagu Brown invited many people in his castle.
Lord Carnavon, the noted egyptologist who discovered the tomb of Tut-Anch Amon (and who with his wife and collaborators were subject to a famous curse) and the Baron Von Mumm, an industrialist and the producer of a champagne of the same name, lived close by; the former in Villa Altachiara, foto, and the latter in the "San Giorgio" castle. They both became good friends of the Browns and often exchanged visits.
When Frederick Brown, the younger brother of Montagu, married in 1882 he acquired the Castle in Paraggi, foto, by then in disuse. It had belonged to the Fieschis in the middle ages and later used by the Genoese Republic as a defense against pirates as well as to block the landing of victims of the plague.
Notwithstanding the fact that it was originally a military design, it was possible to adapt it to use as a luxurious residence for prestigious guests. The original project of transformation from a fort to a villa was done by Frederick himself.
When he first submitted the design to his friend the artist James Harris, who was later to become a baron and British Console in Nice, he was told that it would disfigure the castle. On the advice of a friend of the family, the architect Alfredo D'Andrade, the project was entrusted to an engineer by the name of Tamburelli. In restructuring the castle, Tamburelli abolished the narrow moat (and as a consequence its connecting bridge) that ran along the cliff behind the structure and had it filled with stone. In place of the existing battery of cannons he had built a fragile but charming loggia that was thought precarious by contemporaries but which still exists today.