Painted ceilings
After one lunch, we followed the barely discernible path
atop the Singing Beach ridge through the summer roses.
Julia stopped, turned her gaze inland, pointed towards
the Curtis house, and said, "This house resembles the villa
in the middle of Caprarola's secret garden." Actually, she
might have said the house was inspired by Caprarola. The
Curtis house, a Renaissance Italian villa much admired,
would remain a vision of Caprarola in my mind for nearly
half a century until I would visit the original myself, only
to discover that however magnificent the Curtis house,
it was inspired by a pleasure folly within the gardens of,
arguably, the most remarkable house in the world.
Axis Mundi--center of the world, microcosm of universal
order-- if any house in the world may be given this name it
HYLAND
