Garden with a view

English gardener Nick Dakin-Elliot is part of an international team dedicated to restoring the particular ambience of Villa La Pietra, Fiesole, overlooking Florence. The villa and gardens previously the home of the late historian and author Harold Acton had during his lifetime established a rare combination of English garden culture and Italian Renaissance villa. The gardens form a rich tapestry of vistas and private spaces overlooking distant Florence. Now it is the property of New York University, which has so far augured well for its future salvation as a study centre, conceived, says Dakin-Elliot, in terms of a 50-year perspective.