Carving out a classical setting

A Renaissance man created this Italian-style villa in the Hollywood Hills.

Dr. Jim Montagano, an ear, nose and throat specialist as well as a sculptor and painter, can be found playing the piano or the violin when he’s not cooking, baking or working in his garden. Montagano bought the nearly 1-acre site in 1987. The eldest of six siblings whose paternal grandparents were born in Italy, he wanted the Italian Renaissance-style architecture of his villa to be as authentic as possible while incorporating his ideas for features such as indoor and outdoor sculpting studios, which could be turned into bedrooms.

Montagano hired architect Pierluigi Bonvicini, from Tuscany, to design the residence. Construction began in 1994 and was completed two years later.

The five-bedroom, 5 1/2 -bathroom villa features a 24-foot-high Pantheon-inspired rotunda with a retractable skylight. “The Pantheon, in Rome, is my favorite building,” Montagano said. His Pantheon is a one-sixth-scale reproduction of the original. Montagano uses the rotunda as a dramatic entry off a courtyard and for formal dinners, which he prepares himself.

Next to the villa is a 57-foot-high Florentine-style bell tower with a bell from Rome that Montagano programmed to ring six times at 6 p.m. every day. Montagano figured that neighbors would be least disturbed at that hour, and so far, he’s had no complaints, he said.

Among other features is a kitchen with an extra-large pizza oven, a Venetian chandelier and a place where he can index his 10,000 recipes. He has 4,000 books that he keeps in a two-story library with a mezzanine. The villa also has a terraced Italian garden.

About this property: “My real passion was the garden,” Montagano said. “The house was an afterthought.”

When he bought the land, he had planned to create a botanical garden, open to the public. He ran into bureaucratic obstacles but proceeded with garden plans for himself. After he had the villa built, he thought he would live there the rest of his life, he said. Now, at 55, he plans to sell, give up being a doctor and explore life as an artist.

Asking price: $5 million

Size: The villa is about 7,800 square feet. It is on about 1 acre of terraced grounds.

Other features: In the garden, there is a grand-scale fountain that Montagano sculpted. It was inspired by the Neptune fountain in the Piazza Navona in Rome. Montagano uses the 4-foot-deep fountain as a swimming pool.

The garden also has other, smaller sculptures by Montagano, a natural stream, a koi pond, 67 fruit and olive trees, 117 rose bushes and a small vineyard. There is a small, “secret” garden with a retaining wall that Montagano also designed and built.

The villa and its substantial foundation were designed to fit the curves of the street and the irregular shape of the lot. Many arches and angular walls resulted.

The villa also has three fireplaces, French doors, terraces, loggias and a three-car garage.

Where: Hollywood Hills

Listing agent: Greg Moesser, Prudential California Realty, John Aaroe division, (310) 770-9014.

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To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, send color interior and exterior photos with caption information on a CD and a description of the house to Ruth Ryon, Real Estate section, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A., CA 90012.