Residences
Home Business Art Collection Residences Nobility Strada Balbi Wealth & Wills Religion Politics Family Tree Balbi Surname Famous Balbis Today's Balbis DNA Project Resources Awards Add Me! Email	In 1650 Francesco Maria Balbi purchased an Italian feudal property of provincial size that was comprised of a large geographic area called the Piovera, in the Alessandria area. The property included homes, farms,vineyards, pasture land, windmills, canals and the Piovera Castle, shown at left. The castle is on Via Balbi in Piovera and is open to the public. Francesco Maria Balbi also had a number of other residences in the Liguria area, including a villa on the Italian Riviera, in Albisola. He reached this villa in a boat called a feluca. The villa belonged to the Balbi family until a few decades ago, it is now a privately owned residence. It is located on Via Balbi. Another former Balbi property is located on the Italian coast, in Sestri Levanti. Today it is called the Grand Hotel Villa Balbi. It was built in the early 1600s by the Brignole family.It was inherited by the Balbi family in the late 1600s and they made it truly their own. Throughout the villa, vestiges of the Balbis can be seen, and the three fish from the family crest are incorporated into stained glass windows, doors, ceiling panels, and basins. Several original floor tiles have been preserved and are on display in the hotel lobby. At left is the Chateau of Seix in Ariege, France that was formerly a Balbi residence, owned by the French branch, Balby de Vernon. That branch descends originally from the Renaissance Balbi family of Genoa. Italy had two Balbi families of nobility in the Renaissance period, one in Genoa and the other in Venice. Many have wondered if the two families were originally related. Pictured at right is the Palazzo Balbi in Venice which was built by the Venetian Balbi family in 1582. In 1807 Napoleon watched the regatta from this palace. Today this palace is the seat of the Veneto Regional Council.
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