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Built in the last quarter of the 19th century by General McMurdo, on a plot of land next to the villa of his father-in-law, Sir Charles Napier, Villa della Pergola is an eclectic, colonial-style jewel. It was later snapped up by Sir Daniel Hanbury, a pillar of the Ligurian English community. Only those with the keenest eye for cinema trivia will recognise the villa as one of the locations for Alfred Hitchcock's first film, The Pleasure Garden (1925), a melodramatic tale of passion, murder and betrayal.

Sir Daniel's second wife lived at Villa della Pergola until her death in 1982, after which the house and its contents were put up for sale. The villa was bought by the Demartini family, initially as an investment; but Marcella Demartini so fell in love with the place that she decided to live here and contribute to the villa's substantial running costs by opening up three spacious upper rooms to paying guests. Each one has a fireplace and each opens onto a veranda with a sweeping sea view. The days when Sir Daniel could call on 14 gardeners are long gone, but the air of genteel abandon suits the garden, making its exotics (palms and eucalyptuses) seem perfectly at home amid the stone pines and olive trees.

Breakfast (served in the garden in summer) features homemade cakes and jams, including an orange marmalade made to a recipe bequeathed by Lady Ruth's cook. Wear flannels and be prepared for the culture shock as you walk down the path into town. It's only eight minutes away, but it feels like you've just fast-forwarded 80 years.


Considred by Condé Nast Traveler as one of the top B&B in Italy March 2003.
Recommended by Condé Nast Traveller British Edition March 2003.