The ancient seat of the Melchiori wool-making family is accessible by passing through the arch to the west of the square that leads to the house’s orchard, currently home to the “Aita” Retirement Home. The 17th-century layout of the villa retains the characteristics of a proto-industrial home-business: the stately residence, important, refined in its architecture and custodian of artistic and cultural values ; the adjacent buildings, in the background and lower, with functions related to economic activity. The massive main facade of the villa faces south and develops on three floors, in a prospective relief compared to the accessory buildings, which are set back and lower in height. The entrance portal, with a rusticated arch, is flanked by two auxiliary square windows, raised higher than the other openings on the facade. The noble floor is announced by an elegant trifora with lowered arches that illuminates the large central hall ; the triple opening, with rectangular elements, is repeated on the upper floor, then giving way to a long dentilated cornice that concludes the facade. The internal spatial scheme is that of a Venetian house, with a passing entrance hall, two entrance doors, one to the courtyard and one to the street, rooms placed laterally, and a staircase that allows access to the upper floors. Aligned along the eastern side of the main residence, some at right angles to it, are the rooms used for work: workshops and warehouses, with two dovecote towers at the ends facing the current Via Francesco Aita. On the two pillars of the access that heralds the villa’s tree-lined courtyard are two stone statues, attributable to the Marinali workshop, once placed at the sides of the arched portal facing the Duomo square in Crespano.
