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Italian Villa Retreat Print E-mail
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It Takes A Villa

In Treviso, a little-know northeastern province, Mario Moretti Polegato relishes his Italian getaway

By Aaron Britt

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Photo by Colin Dutton
Mario Moretti Polegato is a connoisseur of good food, fine wine, and high speed. And like any respectable Italian, he surrounds himself with all three. The inventor, designer, and entrepreneur declared Treviso—the northeastern province of Italy where he was born, resides, and keeps his second home—one of the best places to eat in the entire country. That residence, the Villa Sandi, houses its own vineyard, which produces prosecco, the crisp, sparkling wine from the region; Còrpore, a full-bodied merlot-cabernet blend; and the potent digestif called grappa. And in one of the long, low classical buildings that girds the main villa, Polegato stores his collection: Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, and vintage motorcycles, including six Moto Guzzis (dating from 1924 to 1956).

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In spite of this wealth of cars and comestibles, Polegato must still consider the Villa Sandi itself his finest prize. Once Polegato’s boyhood home, the mansion sits in Crocetta del Montello, a rural corner of Treviso, its scrubbed white facade recently restored to its former glory. Classical statues line the gravel walk up to the imposing main villa, built in 1622, and a long, squat structure guards each end, like low, white sidekicks. It’s a fitting getaway for the founder and president of Geox shoes, one of the most lucrative brands in all of Italian fashion.


Polegato began his career in the family wine business. After completing his studies in oenology and earning a law degree, he worked with his family at Villa Sandi, the vineyard headquartered on the estate. During World War I, the particularly cruel front between Italy and the Austro-Hungarian empire was just miles away from Villa Sandi. The serpentine matrix of underground tunnels and caves then constructed by Italian soldiers now houses the nearly 1.5 million bottles of wine awaiting the market. “In the past we had soldiers in those bunkers,” Polegato says. “Now we have peace and the bottle.”

Polegato was happy with his chosen profession, but the other shoe dropped, so to speak, while he was attending a wine conference in Reno, Nevada. Tormented by the desert heat on his daily jog, Polegato punctured holes in the soles of his sneakers to keep his feet cool. The makeshift fix worked, but Polegato realized there was probably a market for a refined version of his innovation and proceeded to invent a breathable rubber-bottomed shoe. Today Geox has about 40 patents in 100 countries for its unique breathable membrane and is the most successful shoe company in Italy. “Geox is the revolution,” says Polegato, a tall, excitable, and athletic man—when we met he was nursing a bruised arm from some overzealous skiing. “We are leading in both style and technology; everyone else can only follow.” It’s typical passion from Polegato, who seems to thrive on his business.
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