Ancient Roman patricians loved their villas as places for enjoyment -social and intellectual -and as a center of agricultural production. The villa as an architectural type has remained basically unchanged for 2000 years because it fills a human need that never alters -the desire for fresh air, beautiful views, and time to recharge one's mind and soul -as a balance to the bustling of urban life. As Cosimo de'Medici wrote to his humanist protege, Marsilio Ficino: "Yesterday, I came to my villa of Careggi, not to cultivate my fields but my soul." Villa life flourished during the Renaissance in the countryside surrounding Florence, Rome and Venice, where humanist educated patrons and architects began building country estates inspired by literary descriptions of ancient Roman villas. In the sixteenth century villas became grander and more lavishly decorated to reflect the magnificence of their owners and to entertain erudite guests far from the noise, turbulence and unsanitary conditions of city streets and piazzas. The Roman tradition continues in the 21st century in the Napa and Sonoma valleys where city dwellers withdraw from city congestion to enjoy beautiful vistas, vineyards and gardens with friends and family.