La Macchina Fissa
December 2015 – August 2026
Borgo Virgilio, Mantua
A 17th Century villa which became a 19th Century pumphouse along the Mincio River was home to Reading Retreats in Rural Italy for eleven years. Ten bedrooms, four bathrooms, two kitchens, and several living rooms were used for storing books, hosting concerts, organizing art exhibitions, and throwing parties. In 2015, the association was invited to move into a sprawling nest that was partly in ruin but full of potential. We added to it and improved it year after year, both inside and out. The croquet lawn to the north and the vegetable garden (pumpkin jungle) facing south were looking better than ever. Then, in January of 2026, the owner, Fausto Tosi, decided to put it up for sale, so we were forced to move on. Fortunately, within only a few months, we found a wonderful new location: a former summer holiday home and horse ranch in the hills above Castell'Arquato, Piacenza.
20th Century Chaos
After 1929, when La Macchina Fissa was no longer used as a pumphouse, it became ad hoc housing for five families that each found their own way of squeezing in and occupying the empty building. Some windows were bricked up, others were created, rooms with high ceilings became two floors. There were no indoor bathrooms. What we found in 2015 was a confusing but amusing labyrinth of many rooms that were never really meant to be joined together. Over the next few years, with the addition of a few indoor lofts, new doors, and two new staircases that replaced ladders, the house began to breathe fresh air throughout its complex floorplan.
Parco del Mincio
Located only fifty meters from the Mincio River, La Macchina Fissa was in the heart of Parco del Mincio, an ideal location for guests who wanted to walk or bycicle along the river and canals. The fog and damp cold of winter followed by Mantua's infamous heat, humidity, and mosquitos of summer might have kept some potential guests away, but the association thrived just the same.
The surrounding countryside, with its open skies, endless fields, and distant views of the Alps, had its allure.
The Garden
On the south side of the house, within a space which measured just 20x24 meters, Clark and friends created a pumpkin jungle with many plants and flowers that were encouraged to climb up and over a central tunnel built of scrapwood. When that was not enough, they added wooden ladders and bamboo structures for gourds, small pumpkins, morning glories, and more.
The overall effect? Often quite messy, to be honest, but also botanically interesting and definetly exuberant. The garden peaked in August every summer, not the loveliest time of year to visit, but it looked great in photos. A pig stye was turned into a potting shed and a chicken coop became a napping porch, both brimming with art, books, and comfy places to sit and relax.
On the north side of the house, an orchard full of dead and dying trees was leveled and replaced with a lawn which, in its openness, provided space and a welcome contrast to the jungle on the other side of the house.
Over the years, the garden was featured in Italian and foreign magazines: Gardens Illustrated, CasaFacile, Gardenia, Giardino Antico and newspapers, such as Corriere della Sera. In 2023, it was the protagonist (along with Clark and his pets) of Emilio Neri Tremolada's documentary entitled "La Macchina Fissa; Clark's Garden". In June of 2026, it became the set of a teen adventure and mystery television series based in and around Mantua which will be coming out soon.
Explore La Macchina Fissa
Take a tour through the bedrooms and shared spaces of La Macchina Fissa.
A New Chapter
As of September 2026, Reading Retreats in Rural Italy opens its doors to its fifth location, Podere Il Cerro, a former horse ranch located just ten minutes from one of the most beautiful medieval towns in northern Italy: Castell'Arquato (Piacenza).