a home away from home.

if you recognize this first picture, consider yourself incredibly lucky because this means you have visited one of the most beautiful places on earth (according to me).

 this is castle hill. 

on a set of lovely rolling hills sits a mansion, which is home to enchanting weddings and concerts whose tunes play into the sunset, all summer long. surely ipswich massachusetts's hidden gem...movies have been filmed here, dreams have come true here...and it's all about twenty minutes from my house. at the bottom of these cascading hills is crane's beach, where boats frequent all season long. its landscaping is the design of the olmsted brothers, whose father crafted new york's central park and brooklyn's prospect park. 

i knew that these grounds were designed after italian renaissance architecture, but was stunned to find a place in florence that reminded me exactly of my favorite spot at home. seriously...look at the wall in the above picture, and then look at the one in the picture below. uncanny. it made me feel like everything in life truly happens for a reason. i would discover the wondrous land of crane's estate, and years later visit the very place where its inspiration was born. 

and come to find out, mr. crane's wife was even named florence.

 in the early 1900's he had an italian renaissance-style villa constructed for her, with an unbelievable view of the atlantic ocean and distant isles. although florence insisted a new home be built in place of the italian one which once stood atop castle hill, every other aspect of these acres is bursting with timeworn italian style, to this day.

 here is a picture of the grounds of pitti palace, part of florence italy's famous 

boboli gardens.

if you were half way across the world,
would there be a place like this instilled in your heart?

i really hope so.

 i think everyone should have that one place they truly feel 'home.'