The toponym preserves the memory of the ancient furnaces and brickworks that have been present in the area since Roman times. Taking advantage of the nearby clay pits, in 1710 the Baglioni kiln was established, a significant local industry that, by the end of the 19th century, moved to new and larger facilities built near Laterina Station. These were known as the “Fornaci di Laterina” and were awarded a gold medal at the 1910 International Exhibition in Brussels. We also have a beautiful catalog from 1912, featuring Liberty-style designs, which documents the large industrial sheds that were later destroyed during the bombings of World War II.
Not far from the rural settlement of Latereto, there stands the villa built by the Clerici family in the second half of the 19th century, surrounded by a lush park. Its solid parallelepiped volume is typologically reminiscent of post-Unification buildings derived from the architectures of Giuseppe Poggi (1811–1901) and inspired by a neorenaissance eclecticism that would later evolve, by the end of the century, into the so-called Umbertine style.
The façade features five axes of windows, either with flat or pedimented tops (triangular or arched pediments). The central section, corresponding to three axes of windows, is slightly raised and distinguished by a false smooth rustication. In front of the large French door on the raised ground floor, there is a staircase with a double ramp, symmetrically arranged. From the pavilion roof, a central belvedere loggia emerges, a more refined variation of the dovecote typically found on rural houses in the area.
The villa is surrounded by a small English-style park, rich in sinuous flowerbeds and curving gravel paths, where imposing Lebanese Cedars, Himalayan Cedars, Cypresses, Greek Firs, Sabine Pines, Magnolias, and Palms can be found, in keeping with the taste of the time, which tended to blend typical indigenous species with others of exotic origin. The stone statues from Vicenza depicting the Seasons date back to the 20th century.
Around the time of World War I, the villa passed into the hands of the Bernetti family, and on the eve of World War II, it became the property of the Castellani family. In the 1970s, the Castellani sold it to the Del Tongo family, a well-known furniture-making family from Arezzo, who are still the owners of the property today.
