A garden above the sea

A home, a garden, a theatre. Villa TreVille is all of these

08 Oct 2025

A home, a garden, a theatre. Villa TreVille is all of these. Where the is generous and the sea is always close.

The road dips sharply from the Amalfi drive, winding away from the sweep of traffic into something smaller, quieter, almost a secret. A narrow lane that winds down towards the sea to Villa TreVille with the Amalfi Sea as its backdrop and potted lemon plants leading you within. The entrance draws you into a corridor where the world narrows. The ceiling is low and arched, the floor patterned in Moorish tiles, and lanterns scatter lace-like shadows across the walls. It is hushed and contained, almost theatrical, in stark contrast to the villa’s other spaces that are open, airy and wide. The corridor is a threshold, a passage from one mood to another, before TreVille spills outward back into light and scale.

TreVille was once Franco Zeffirelli’s home, designed with the help of Renzo Mongiardino, the great theatre and interior designer. Their collaboration is everywhere in the layering of rooms, in the way the house reveals itself scene by scene

TreVille was once Franco Zeffirelli’s home, designed with the help of Renzo Mongiardino, the great theatre and interior designer. Their collaboration is everywhere in the layering of rooms, in the way the house reveals itself scene by scene. It carries the drama of a stage, yet always feels lived in and intimate. The play of levels makes each discovery its own. Rooms open into terraces, staircases lead to hidden landings, and no two spaces are ever the same. Each bedroom is imagined as a personality, dressed in its own palette, with art and objects that speak in individual voices. Walking through TreVille feels less like touring a hotel and more like meeting a cast of characters, all bound by the same story yet holding their own individuality.

The land is astonishingly fertile with lemons, aubergines, courgettes, basil, rocket and surprisingly, even passion fruit! The gardens remind you of the villa’s most enduring truth, that its land insists on abundance. And that translates on the plate in a way that surprises you. The vegetarian fare at Maestro shined brighter than the steak and fish. And mind you, the steak was impeccable, the fish was as vibrant as the sea, but the zucchini pasta, unforgettable.

Colour is everywhere, not just in the food but in the way it is served. Bold blues, sea-greens and yellows in hand-painted crockery frame the plates like artworks, echoing the Amalfi coast’s ceramic traditions. The illustrated menu itself feels like part of this continuity, a hand-drawn story that preludes the food.
Details tie the experience together. Crockery that sings of the coast, Moorish tiles interspersed with terracotta floors, wooden fences along the cliff path whose rough surfaces your hand instinctively wants to touch. Texture is as much a part of TreVille as taste and view. And that is TreVille’s gift. It doesn’t reveal itself all at once. It unfolds in the corridor of shadows, a stairwell of light, a garden heavy with fruit, and that plate of zucchini pasta that lingers in memory.