An illustrated regional survey of Italian country houses and their gardens, tracing their historical evolution from medieval enclosures to Renaissance terraces and emphasizing the interplay of architecture, water, marble, and evergreen planting over seasonal floriculture. It examines design principles and functional needs—views, steps, grottoes, fountains, and terraced layouts—and offers descriptive studies of notable villas across Florence, Siena, Rome, Genoa, Lombardy, and the Veneto, accompanied by drawings and photographs that document forms, spatial arrangements, and the relationship between house, garden, and surrounding landscape.