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History and Glories > Monday, November-17-2008

The Castles of Portofino and Paraggi

When one speaks of the Brown Castle it is normal to think immediately of Portofino, however few know that
the castle in Paraggi also belonged to the Browns. Timothy Yeats Brown, originally of a Scotch family,
following the romantic footsteps of the poets Byron and Shelly, came to Italy, to Portovenere where he lived
on the island of Palmaria.

When he was named console of the United Kingdom to Genoa, he moved here with his family and raised
his children who, while being British citizens felt Genoese in sentiment and loved Portofino. The oldest boy,
Montagu, became console of S. M. Britannica when his father died. The second boy, Federico, was a great
industrialist and businessman of the end of the nineteenth century.

The castle of Portofino, which was a Genoese fort and over the centuries belonged to the Florentines, the
French, the Spanish, and, after Waterloo, was conquered by the English, has very ancient origins. Montagu
Brown acquired it from the State in 1870 for seven thousand liras and had it adapted for civil habitation by the
noted architect Alfredo D'Andrade; from this splendid position he dominated the two seas and could see
below him the village of Portofino and all the bays and ravines that mark the coast towards Santa Margherita
Ligure. On the terrace that in the past had been the esplanade of the fort, he planted two pine trees that
today, having grown imposing and stately, characterize the castle.
He furnished the inside with furniture that came from clipper ships in that austere and aristocratic style so
characteristic of the English of that epoch. On the walls of the studio of the castle hung paintings of Moeris
and an authentic Hogarth copy. Montagu Brown invited many people in his castle.

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Lord Carnavon, the noted egyptologist who discovered the tomb of Tut-Anch Amon (and who with his wife
and collaborators were subject to a famous curse) and the Baron Von Mumm, an industrialist and the
producer of a champagne of the same name, lived close by; the former in Villa Altachiara, foto, and the
latter in the "San Giorgio" castle. They both became good friends of the Browns and often exchanged visits.

The Babers, who succeeded the Browns on the property were true archeologists and did studies on the
castle which they came to know rock by rock. Colonel John published a book, unobtainable today, on this
subject and on medieval Portofino.

His wife Joceline dedicated herself to research on the old chapel of which she possessed a complete
inventory dated May 6, 1607. The Babers left the castle to the commune of Portofino which then transformed
it into a museum used for various cultural presentations and programs. Recently, in 1993, it appeared in a
film intitled "L'incantevole aprile" (The Enchanting April).

When Frederick Brown, the younger brother of Montagu, married in 1882 he acquired the Castle in
Paraggi, foto, by then in disuse. It had belonged to the Fieschis in the middle ages and later used by the
Genoese Republic as a defense against pirates as well as to block the landing of victims of the plague.

Notwithstanding the fact that it was originally a military design, it was possible to adapt it to use as a
luxurious residence for prestigious guests. The original project of transformation from a fort to a villa was
done by Frederick himself.

When he first submitted the design to his friend the artist James Harris, who was later to become a baron
and British Console in Nice, he was told that it would disfigure the castle. On the advice of a friend of the
family, the architect Alfredo D'Andrade, the project was entrusted to an engineer by the name of Tamburelli.
In restructuring the castle, Tamburelli abolished the narrow moat (and as a consequence its connecting
bridge) that ran along the cliff behind the structure and had it filled with stone. In place of the existing battery
of cannons he had built a fragile but charming loggia that was thought precarious by contemporaries but
which still exists today.

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At the end of 1890 the castle at Paraggi was completely restored and became a delight and admiration not
only from the sea but also by land because the road from Santa Margherita to Portofino, one of the most
beautiful in the world, was completed and open to the privileged few who travelled on it in their carriages.

Many were the guests of Frederick Brown and his wife Ida in this beautiful castle. Some of these will appear
in the third part of this book. In 1913 Frederick Brown gave up the castle. The Goretti family who would
succeed the Browns as owners of this fine house maintained the same customs and continued the tradition
of illustrious guests. In 1939 they hosted Maria Jose, then queen of Italy, and her children.

After World War II the castle once again changed hands and remains today in private ownership. In the first
few years after the war, problems in French-Italian relations were resolved in meetings at the Grand Hotel
Miramare, in which De Gaspari and Sforza participated.

They stayed at the Grand Hotel Excelsior, foto, while the French delegation which included Schuman and
Pleven took rooms in the castle at Paraggi.

Since the years of the economic miracle, the castle has seen the bay of Paraggi crowded with boats, but not
only with the usual prestigious yachts but also with more modest crafts, a testament to a more general and
defuse wellbeing.

Portofino World Site, a world apart.

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Posted by Editor at 15:13pm

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Portofino World Site, a World apart.

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