The primary reason we knew Villa Diodati could be part of our Switzerland trip was because Peter Gross and Mike Carey had mentioned it in the brilliant comic series “The Unwritten” that it was near Geneva. I was curious how much artistic license Gross been taken with the presentation of the Villa in the book, because everything I read about the Villa was that it was still a private residence. I want to make it clear that I’m not being an accuracy snob. I encourage artistic license if it helps a story or creates a better image. This is simply curiosity and added a fun bonus to our trip.

The biggest liberties appear to have been taken with the grounds. The part of the Villa facing the street is actually blocked by trees, that gate is farther east and not lined up with the building, and there are more buildings on the premises.

Additionally, you can really only get a clear glimpse of the east of the house and the north of the house facing out toward Lake Geneva - that’s where my picture is taken. So it is possible Gross is coming at this from a different angle.

Grounds aside, the most important part of the presentation is the Villa Diodati itself. It appears to me from this photo and other photos that I took that he was very accurate with the architecture. The windows appear to match and even the vents and chimneys on the roof seem to line up.

Why is Villa Diodati such a big deal? The main character explains on the preceding page:

“So the literary connections of the Villa actually go all the way back to John Milton. Charles Diodati was a big mate of Milton’s. Thick as thieves. Everyone creams their jeans about the 1816 stuff. Frankenstein. Byron. Monk Lewis. The big gothic love-in. And they totally miss the Milton connection. He could have dreamed up Paradise Lost under that roof. So you could say Satan and Frankenstein were both born in the same house.”

You can view other images I took of Villa Diodati in my Geneva folder.